A Chia Cat Has Adopted Me

I met the mailman as he approached our door, his arms overflowing with packages. I could almost see his red suit, but he had traded his reindeer for a 4-wheel drive to trudge through the snow. Back to the packages--On closer examination we found one box to be elegantly addressed to ME! Carefully slicing through the plastic tape, the open box revealed a Chia Pet!! I couldn't believe my eyes! I felt as if I were living the movie where the boy gets his gun. The card with it did not reveal the sender, only stating, "Heard you have been good." So to whomever is out there that has recognized my goodness and rewarded said goodness with the ultimate gift, I THANK YOU!

A Time to Plant

I took my class outside yesterday to plant flowers. We had 78 to plant, but in an hour and 45 minutes were only able to get 32 in the ground. Why? Each wanted his or her turn and did not want to wait for it or several were over pulling leaves from the tree, our only shade at that end of the area. I mixed the Miracle Grow in water but asked for them to figure the right amount to use per the amount of water. You would have thought I had given them a high level math problem to solve without enough information. It would have been so much simpler to have planted the stuff all by myself. But then the reason why I do it with them became clear when one girl thanked me for letting her plant. She went on to say she had never planted anything in a garden before.

Fun with the Girls

I had a great day yesterday! I took my sister, sister-in-law, and granddaughter out to eat at a quaint restaurant, then on to look at flowers in bloom in local garden stores. We talked, laughed, and shared the day away. And with Toots along, there was never a dull moment. Toots sat in the back with my sister and had a playful rough housing (like she has with her dad) while on the way to the eatery. My sis aimed to please and did not realize where the play was headed. Toots pinched my sister's cheek as if she were her daddy. I had to put a stop to it only to have Toots give me some excuse about how my sister liked it. Ha! Don't think that rosie cheek is from make-up. Just hope the cheek doesn't bruise. Maybe Sis should have turned the other cheek so she would have a matching pair.

Two Lilies on the Pond

Our pond had two kinds of lilies, one white that has bloomed often this fall, and one pink that has just put on its second bloom. Both are very pretty but very fleeting. The blooms open up during the day, close at night, sink down in the water, then repeat the process again the next day. The blooms continue this same process for 3, hopefully 4 days, then close and slowly submerge into the water to rot away. If I am extra busy (and who isn't at the start of school) I don't always get out to view the pond, so I have missed several of the blooms. Oh, well, there is always next year. That is if I remember to go out to the pond.

Weather Frog Update

That weather frog from a couple days ago (see picture of frog on lily pad) was wrong. We have had rain, lots of wonderful, much needed rain. The grass is actually beginning to turn green again. The pond is more full and the plants around the pond seem to have flourished also. As I sat outside last evening by the fire in the fire pit, I surveyed the pond carefully in search of that frog. But alas, he was no where in my sight. Perhaps he drowned.

Sunflowers

I planted a package of sunflower seeds out near the road at my house. I anxiously awaited any sign of growth, besides weeds. I was disappointed that only two of the seeds germinated. We have signs of moles working in the yard so maybe they helped themselves to a meal. Anyway, we watched the two plants grown and mature to the point of blooming. I was under the impression that I would only get one sunflower per plant, but was pleasantly surprised that each has multiple blooms. The one to bloom first has over 17 sunflowers on it. Can't imagine how beautiful the garden spot would have been had the whole package made it.