Something's Gotta Give

This post has nothing to do with the movie that stars Diane Keaton and Jack Nicholson and the fabulous house ... I'm talking about me.  I am juggling more than I can handle right now, and something has to be done ... but I am the only one who can decide what that is, and I don't have a clue.

This is an arrangement of containers that I saw and liked at the Anne Spencer garden in Lynchburg.

My To Do list is approaching unmanageable proportions, and the drain on my physical and emotional energy is becoming unbearable.  Today is a particularly bad day ... I am overwhelmed.

Another beautiful sunrise in my front yard.

Our daughter's wedding is 8 weeks away.  There is a lot left to be done, and I hear the clock ticking loudly in my head.  Since the wedding is here at our house and garden, I have to make sure that the grounds and gardens look as good as they can.  After last summer's hot, dry weather, and the attack of the killer weeds, this spring's clean up is taking more effort than usual.  Her wedding ceremony will be in our pavilion, and it will require a few modifications to the structure (that I'll show you later), which has meant two days spent on construction and another day or two yet to be spent on landscaping. 

We're making subtle changes to this area for the wedding ceremony.

Rose season is almost here, and this is my busiest time of the year.  I have baby roses to care for and ready for their new homes, advance orders to process and stage for shipping in May, and plans to make for opening the nursery to visitors next month.  Rose season also means that there are individuals and groups who want to visit the garden.  It will be an almost non-stop parade of people from mid-May and into June.  Everyone who comes wants a personal tour, which I am honored to provide ... but there is only so much of ME to go around.  Add to this the programs that I present to garden clubs and other groups, and a three-day plant sale to prepare for ... I'm sure there's something else that I'm forgetting.

The Rose Tunnel doesn't look anything like this right now.

Even though our Greyhounds Rock fundraiser event is seven months away, those of us who organize it have a crushing workload right now.  My main job is merchandising, and I have been working to plan inventory and make collars for smaller events in April and May where we have a booth to advertise our event and sell our wares, and for our Etsy store.  The Husband is the web master for everything Internet for Greyhounds Rock, so I end up consulting on web site decisions, and every day there is at least one email conversation about something that goes on among all of us organizers.  Above all of this, I have to remember that we do this to raise money for canine cancer research, a cause that is near and dear to all of us, and my efforts may one day be rewarded with real progress.

My friend Kim's dog TJ, our Greyhounds Rock poster dog ... and that's one of my collars that he's wearing.

The pressure of having older pets is weighing heavily on me right now.  Emma is 14, and she is doing really well right now ... thank Heaven.  Kimba, our outdoor cat, is at least 18 and she's slowing down, but she is also healthy.  Amy ... sweet Amy ... will not be with us much longer.  I have to call my vet and talk to her about it.  I can't think about this right now.

My house is a mess!  I have not put any time into controlling the accumulation clutter, so the piles of papers and supplies and tools are everywhere.  I would love to have a place for everything, and I will one day, but I do not have the energy or time to devote to get there right now.  If it wasn't for my cleaning lady, I don't know what I'd do.  Every other Tuesday, she comes and my house sparkles afterward.  In preparation for her arrival, I usually spend a frenzied couple of hours clearing what clutter I can manage and trying to organize what I can.  I have faked myself into believing that every little bit helps.

Here is a photo of our tidied up family room.  You didn't think I was going to show you the mess, did you?

This morning, I was presented with the proverbial straw-that-broke-the-camel's-back ... my Mustang is probably more broken that we thought it was.  Remember when it overheated last fall?  The Husband tried to change the thermostat this weekend, and he thinks there's a crack somewhere, and it won't hold water.  I have to talk to my mechanic this afternoon.  Now that I say this out loud, a broken car is really minor when compared to everything else that's going on ... it's more of a contributing element to a cumulative accumulation of stress.

Why am I sitting here blogging about this instead of taking care of it, you ask?  This morning has become a time of reflection and recharging ... trying to gather my energy for another push toward my goal of reducing my responsibilities and streamlining my life.  I doubt it's going to work.  What I really need to do is say No ... but to what? 

Alice and Dorothy are doing what they can to help.

Thanks for listening and reading this post this far.  I know it's not the usual light-spirited, informative, positive vibe that I try to keep here.  I don't have a lot of positive inside me right now.  I'm tired.

Now that I got this off my chest, I'm going to go outside and work. 

Sunday Snapshot ... Cooking for the Dogs

Right now, there are two pots simmering on the stove and the house is filled with a delicious aroma.  Much to the disappointment of The Husband and our daughter, all this cooking isn't for the humans.  Every Sunday, I whip up a batch of what we call Dog Stew, and this supplements our dogs' meals for the next week.  I started doing this a few months ago, at the insistence of Emma's holistic veterinarian.  Dr. Tran wanted Emma to eat more 'real food' and less kibble. 

The pot on the left contains vegetables (peas, carrots, lima beans, green beans, kale, etc.), green beans, and kale.  The pot on the right contains ground turkey, lean ground beef, and brown rice.  This simmers for about an hour, until the rice is cooked ... then I stir it together, put it in the fridge, and I'm done until next month.

Meals for Emma now consist of a tiny bit of kibble, half a can of dog food (Kirkland brand from Costco), two generous scoops of Dog Stew ... stirred together and topped with either a blob of cottage cheese or canned pumpkin, with her Chinese herb tablets on top.  Daniel gets a bit more kibble, a spoonful of dog food, one scoop of Stew with cottage cheese or pumpkin, and no herbs.  Sometimes, if Emma has overdone herself or appears to be more painful than usual, I will add Rimadyl to the 'topping' for a period of time.

This new diet, along with monthly accupuncture treatments, has made a huge difference in Emma.  Her fur is shiny, her attitude is good, and she is obviously a lot more comfortable and mobile.  (Emma is 14 years old and she has two calcified discs in her lower back.)    This little bit of effort is really not too much to do for a valuable member of the family.

Happy Sunday, Everyone!

Connie

What a Beautiful Day ... and an Announcement

Yesterday, the sky was blue, the clouds were puffy, and temperatures were warm (but not too warm) ... a perfect day for working outside.

A huge oak tree on one side of our front yard ...

... and a large wild cherry tree on the other side.

Our cooler-than-average temperatures for the past week or so have preserved the blooming daffodils, so their spring show seems to be going on a bit longer than usual. 

These are an old fashioned variety that is called Butter and Eggs.  All of these were rescued from old house sites that no longer exist.

The daffodil bulbs that I planted by our front fence three years ago are growing really well.  It's easy to tell which part of the fence has the sunniest, best growing conditions.

I worked in the greenhouse for a few hours while the morning was cool, continuing to pot the roses into their larger pots.  It feels really good to slide a rose out of its little pot and see roots like this.

And now for the announcement ... Mark your calendar and plan to attend Hartwood Roses' Spring Open House.  I'm planning to open the garden on Saturday, May 14 (rain date, Sunday, May 15).  I have lots of details to attend to before then, so take this as a preliminary announcement.  I will announce a complete schedule of activities here soon, and email it to everyone on my mailing list, so stay tuned.

Spring is finally here, and I can't wait to share it with you!

Why You Should Adopt Kittens in Pairs

If you adopt two kittens at once, things like this are less likely to happen to your older cats.

I have shared with you many adorable images of Dorothy and Alice, snuggled up sleeping.  Yesterday, with Alice nowhere to be found, Dorothy decided that Maggie would make a suitable sleeping partner.  The look on Maggie's face says it all.

Pruning a Climbing Rose ... starring Zephirine Drouhin

As I mentioned yesterday, the weather was perfect for spending the whole day outside pruning.  I concentrated most of my efforts on the climbers on the arches in the center of the Rose Field.  These were the most neglected last year, and they need a LOT of work to get the canes back onto the arches in any sort of pleasing arrangement.

As I worked, I realized that what I was doing could make a very helpful post for the blog.  Keep in mind, this is much easier to show you in person, but I will do the best I can with photos and diagrams. 

My victim for this little lesson is Zephirine Drouhin, a very popular climbing Bourbon rose.

This is what Zephirine Drouhin looked like before I did anything to her.

It's hard to see in this harsh sunlight, but there are WAY too many canes in here and they're going every which way.  Here's a marked-up version of the above photo to show you what a mess I had on my hands.

When pruning climbers, the object is to remove canes that are dead, old and bloomed out, or cannot logically be encouraged to attach to your support structure ... in my case, this arch.  I always start at the bottom of the rose, cutting out anything that is dead or damaged.

My next step is to assess each cane and remove the older ones.  Zephirine Drouhin tends to produce plenty of new canes every year, and she can quickly become a haystack.  I cut them off right at the base.  By removing canes that are 3-or-more years old, you keep her young and flexible, and she produces more flowers.  After all, the object of all of this is to create a lovely display of flowers.

You can see in this photo that I have removed quite a few canes.

At this point, I step back and assess where I am in the process, and where I need to go.  There are still WAY too many canes here for what I want to accomplish, so I remove a few more ... concentrating on keeping the canes that are younger and will attach easily to the arch.  There's no point in keeping a lovely young cane that I can't get onto my structure.

I think I'm ready to begin to tie Ms. Zeffy to her arch now.

It is important to note that I haven't shortened any of the remaining main canes.  I want them to be as long as possible to cover this arch.  What I have done, to control the girth of the rose and to encourage better blooming, is to shorten the little lateral canes that branch off of the main canes ... in this case, I trimmed each lateral to about 6 inches or less.  You can see how this (sort of) in this 'enhanced' version of the photo.

All that's left to do at this point is to take each cane and attach it to the structure.  Here is my finished product.

I took more off of this rose this year than I normally would.  Many of my climbers are incredibly overgrown, and I want to have a nice, orderly starting point for (hopefully) easier maintenance in the years to come.  I also want garden visitors, and wedding guests, to be able to easily walk underneath the arches ... without having to dodge wayward, aggressive, thorny rose canes.

In a few weeks, we shall see if I succeeded.

Far-Flung Randomness

I am overwhelmed by all of your wonderful, loving comments and emails about our dear Amy.  It is comforting to know that we are not alone with this ... that so many of you have recently gone through this with your beloved pets ... and that you cared enough to send such wonderful thoughts my way.  I am humbled.

This past weekend was a blur.  It began on Saturday morning with a beautiful sunrise.  I was sitting here on the couch in the family room, answering emails and thinking about how to write about Amy, when I noticed a beautiful pink light coming through the windows.  I grabbed my camera, put on a coat and boots, and I stood outside leaning against one of our oak trees, snapping photos while the sun rose.

I checked on the roses in the greenhouse, and I found that the bud on the Mutabilis baby was open!  (I showed it last week in THIS post.)  Looking at this makes me really anxious for rose season ... but I have so much to do before then.

Later in the morning, we went to see our grandson's soccer game.  I loved watching our daughters play soccer when they were kids, and I get to experience this feeling again with Drew.  It was cold, and we froze, but it was so much fun!

In the afternoon, The Husband and I went along with our daughter for the first fitting of her wedding dress.  You should have seen her face light up when she stepped out of the dressing room and looked at herself in those huge mirrors.  I took pictures, but I can't show them to you ... sorry.  Trust me, there will be lots to share after the wedding in June.

We had a wonderful spur-of-the-moment dinner with friends on Saturday night.  She called while we were at the soccer field, and invited us to come over after the dress fitting.  It was a delightful way to end a very hectic day.

Sunday was a whole lot warmer than Saturday had been.  Before anyone else was awake, I put on my coat and boots, put my second cup of coffee into a travel cup, and I slipped out the back door to go for a walk in the garden.

I love this time of the morning because the angle of the sun illuminates the barn in the distance beyond the garden.  There's still a lot of work to be done in the garden to make it decent.  I'm thinking of having a volunteer work day soon ... I wonder if anyone would come?

As I walked to the barn itself, I found that deer have been using the area around my new David Austin garden as a pathway to get to the pond next door.  Nothing is eaten ... yet ... but it's probably only a matter of time.  This garden should probably get its picket fence sooner, rather than later.

There is a beautiful view from beside the barn, the highest spot on our property, across to the vineyard at the winery next door.  In summer, this view is the most beautiful color of green!

I couldn't stand around and admire the surroundings for too long, because I had to get cleaned up and on the road to do a presentation for the Virginia Peninsula Rose Society, which required a 2 1/2 hour drive to get there.  It was really relaxing ... the traffic was light, the sun was shining, and I tuned my Ipod to my favorite Godsmack CD and turned the volume UP ... it seemed like the perfect day for some hard rock.  The folks at the rose society seemed to enjoy learning about the roses I grow.

Today will be a warm one ... perfect for pulling weeds and pruning roses.  There are still a LOT of roses left to prune.  While I was gone yesterday, The Husband finished installing the timber edging around the rambler fence.  It looks really good!  (I'll show it to you later.)

Now, I have to call someone and have them bring me a dumptruck-load of mulch.

Sweet Amy

Amy came to us in the summer of 1996.  She was born a barn cat, in the hayloft at my sister's father-in-law's farm.  She was cute, and fluffy, and the most beautiful cream color, and we brought her home to live with us when she was about 6 weeks old ... before she could get feral and barnified.  From the first time I saw her, snuggled with her sisters in the hay, their eyes barely open, I knew that Amy was different ... and that she was meant to be mine.

We discovered why she's different within a few weeks of bringing her home... Amy is deaf.  She probably has been since she was born.  It's been interesting to have a deaf cat ... she's not afraid of the vaccuum cleaner or other things that make loud noises, she's always been easily startled but she recovers quickly, and her ears are always perked forward in that cute way of hers.  She is incredibly patient, which was a good thing while my daughters were younger ... Amy was often the subject of the girls' photo shoots, which almost always included costumes and props.

Amy is our little opera singer.  One of her favorite things to do is to sit somewhere high and sing arias.  She howls SOOO loud, it echoes throughout the house.  Her favorite places to sing are the top of the stairs and the upstairs bathroom ... which are also the most echo-ey places we have.

One of the benefits of being deaf is that Amy can sleep just about anywhere.  We are known to find her curled up wherever she decides is warm and comfortable.

When our grandson joined the family, Amy loved story time.  She patiently let Drew play with her, like my girls had played with her when they were younger.  I was fortunate to be in the right place with my camera to capture this exchange shown below.

"Say Cheese, Drew."

"Wanna wear the hat, Amy?"

"Are you in there?"

"I love you, Amy."

Amy is my evening time companion, sitting in my lap while we watch TV, purring louder than any cat I have ever heard.  She also purrs MORE than any other cat I know ... often sitting alone, purring happily to herself.

14 years is a ripe old age for a cat, and Amy has recently begin to have health problems.  Her kidneys don't function as well as they should, but the deterioration is stable and she hasn't required treatment.  She has developed serious allergies in the past year, which haven't responded to antihistamines or allergy shots.  Last month, we made the decision to treat her allergies with steroids because her quality of life was getting pretty low.  She responded well to the steriods.  She isn't nearly as itchy now as she had been a few weeks ago, and her fur is even beginning to grow back.

Amy in 2007, for Drew's 3rd birthday.  She has always loved being in the middle of whatever is going on.

Yesterday, I noticed that Amy appeared to have something wrong with her mouth.  Knowing that cats on steroids are more prone to infection, I made an appointment with her vet to check it out.  Dr. Stamp checked her over, looked in her mouth, drew in her breath, and said, "She has a mass under her tongue."  Things like this are almost always cancer in cats ... probably squamous cell, which is aggressive and nasty.  I'm really glad that I was sitting down at the time. 

It's been twenty-four hours, and I'm still having trouble facing the reality of the situation.  My dear, sweet Amy has cancer.  With her other health problems, complicated by her age and the location of the mass, we cannot in good conscience put her through the stress of treatment ... doing so will reduce her quality of life, and is unlikely to have any benefit. 

I have done a lot of crying in these 24 hours.  We can never know how this will progress, but it will probably be a miracle if Amy sees the end of May.  As I do with all of my critters, I have promised Amy that she will not suffer ... I will take the suffering for her and I will set her free when she tells me that it's time ....

... and I will cherish whatever time Amy and I have left together.  It's never long enough.