A summer for gardening

It's been a lovely, quiet summer so far. The weather has been mild, a good mix of happy sunny days and charming all day rains. The flower gardens are really coming along, although I still have some major weeding to do on a couple of them.

Our hard winter was really tough on my perennials. Quite a few didn't survive, including several of my roses. I put off weeding and planning to see what really was gone, and what was just taking its sweet time about coming back. I've had a few nice surprises, especially from roses I was sure were gone.

The pond also suffered from the hard winter. We lost nearly all of our fish. The ice was nearly three inches thick when we finally hefted it out of the pond, near the end of April. We'd been waiting for it to simply melt away, but our cool spring prevented that. Despite having lots of aeration, I think the fish suffocated. We've added three new fish and a few new water plants. and I think it is looking well again.

 
Gracie is learning that grass is good for sprawling, but mom gets super mad when she lolls around on the flowers. I'd lay prickly rose branches between the plants to discourage her, but they seem to be her especially favorite to chew. I catch her swiping them out of the weed cart all the time.

The gardenia is now constantly in bloom, adding its scent to the lavender and roses. I've left the few milkweed volunteers, hoping to coax a monarch butterfly, or two. I haven't seen a single one so far this year.

Gracie takes me for a walk

It's been six weeks since Gracie came to live with us. She is just a couple of days shy of three months old. She makes me laugh, a lot. She's making great progress on housebreaking, but she still hasn't figured out a way to tell us when she needs to go out. Or, perhaps, we haven't figured out when she's telling us she needs to go out.

I've been outside more in the last six weeks than I was all last summer. (It was hot, super hot, and I mostly hid out in the ac.) And, surprise, surprise, it is good for me, just like the doctors have been telling me.

 

We have this land, not quite fifteen acres, that has lain fallow for decades. From the very first summer we moved here, Kent has cut walking paths in the field. It's lovely to watch the seasons change, savor the wildflower blooms, enjoy the rustle of the tall grasses. But I'm a big scaredy chicken, there are snakes in the field. Okay, so they are just garter snakes, and mostly no longer than my forearm, they are snakes. I'm with Indiana Jones, anything but snakes!

 

But now that I have Gracie, the wonder dog, (and the snakes are all hibernating), we have been enjoying our daily walks through the field.

 

 

 

These trees weren't even here when we moved in, almost twenty years ago. Slowly what used to be a fallow field is becoming, once again, a forest.  While Gracie is busy playing food/not food, I am also busy enjoying the sunshine, and studying the way shadows give dimension to a monochromatic landscape.

 

 

Gracie has changed my life. She makes me so happy, even when she is being her destructive puppy self. But how on earth do you look at that face and stay angry for long? Sure, some days I suffer from puppy fatigue, but she's learning so fast, and wants to please. We'll get there, Gracie, we'll get there together.





 

Meet Gracie

 

This is Gracie. She is three quarters Australian Shepherd and one quarter mystery mutt. And she'll be coming to live with us on Saturday. Yes, I have completely lost my mind.

 

 We have been kicking around the idea of getting a dog for quite a while. Now that the kids are mostly gone, I'm kind of lonely in this big old barn of a house. A dog would be great companionship, and would also help me feel safe when Kent has to travel.We were looking for an older dog, maybe one to three years old and already house trained, but we just couldn't find any that fit just right for us.

 

Aussies are working dogs, used for herding sheep and cattle. They are actually an American breed, possibly Spanish in origin, but passing through Australia before arriving in America's western cattle country. Gracie will keep me busy, for sure, with training and exercise. I hope someday she will become a therapy dog, giving comfort to seniors and kids alike.

 

Although we looked at purebred puppies, I'm glad that Gracie is part mutt. I'm looking for a doggie friend, not a show dog. She has gentle eyes, and beautiful coloring. She chose me. When the puppies were freed from their kennel, she came straight to me and snuggled between my shoes. Remind me of how adorable she is when I'm haggard from lack of sleep. Then again, I have always loved having babies, this one is just furry.