Brown Thumbs?

My day is not nearly done in the garden. Everything takes longer than I plan it seems. I don't know if I'm slower, more careful or what. It took me longer than usual to select the plants this morning and the afternoon to plant them. The photo is a sampling of the terra cotta pots I planted today. They have a bit of transplant shock but will be fine in a couple of days. I spent $82. and did not buy tomato plants as planned. I still have so much work to do before planting them so I'll let someone else worry about watering the seedlings. I'll buy them when it's time.

I keep saying this but driving in the countryside at this time of the year is so beautiful and gives one such an uplifting feeling. Spring! By far my favorite season. It just makes everyone and everything wake up and I sure do take notice, being the visually stimulated person I am.

I had music to accompany my planting of course and was groovin' to Gotta Serve Somebody by Mavis Staples. It made my mind wander to the late seventies when the song was first released by Bob Dylan on Long Train Comin' and I was playing it non-stop. To me it's one of his best albums but for lots of people it signified that Dylan had 'gone religious' and thus did not like this period. I love this song and the whole album.

Just a thought. I wonder why planting and gardening is called having a green thumb. As far as I can tell it adds up to brown fingers and thumbs. Could I be doing something wrong?


Back to work tomorrow so I won't be here till Monday unless it turns out I don't have to work on Saturday then - no excuse.

Changes At Any Age

I finally changed the photos here to something new so now instead of stained glass, cedar waxwings or foxes, you get baby lambs for a few days at least. There is nothing as cute as a baby lamb. The above pure white lambs are triplets. There is a set of twins as well and they are spotted with brown.

I used a hair product (mousse) and a curling iron today for the first time in my life. It was not easy nor did the effects last. There was a bit of a wave after the attempt but an hour or two later, there is no sign of it.

When I was a kid my mother put home perms in my hair and had to leave them in longer than the directions because my hair would not curl. The smell and burning were terrible and this was forced upon me to make me like every one else. I think I made the decision way back then to not put chemicals and dyes in my hair. I did do a few perms in the late seventies but have never dyed my hair.

My window is finished now, cleaned and polished with a protective finish. As soon as someone comes by to hold it, I can get a photo. My son has been off in Boston since Friday and returns tonight so by tomorrow, if he gets home before dark, I will have a shot.

I've got a song for the new hair education. Bob Dylan and Mavis Staples do a fabulous talk and song with I'm Gonna Change My Way of Thinkin'. Something lovely too that fits in is I Taught Myself How To Grow by Ryan Adams.

Seriously Sunny

The sun is shining on Prince Edward Island. I hardly recognized it. I was starting to get wrinkles from all that rain. Tomorrow promises to be sunny and warm and I'm off. I have a serious car repair to take care of but the rest of the day will be spent OUTDOORS in the SUN!

I saw someone yesterday whom I hadn't seen in twenty-five years. Way back then, a group of us roller skated a couple of times a week. I stopped because I was pregnant with my daughter and not very good on roller skates. I haven't seen him since those roller skating days. It was really neat. He'd changed a lot but I didn't change at all. Those wrinkles he and his wife saw were caused by so much rain and will be gone tomorrow. It's nice to catch up on a whole lifetime. He and his wife were in the area looking at properties. They asked where I lived and I told them. They both shrieked. It is their dream home and they check it out every time they're in the area wondering who lives there. Now they know. I told them I'll sell in a heartbeat....

Keeping a couple of promises right now. The photo is of another rhubarb flower in a vase but not one I thought I had. I am constantly deleting photos so must have deleted the arrangement of rhubarb and lupins. If I find it I'll post it. Following Dylan's version of Gotta Serve Somebody, here's Mavis Staples fabulous, funky version. Greg Brown does a fabulous live version of Not Dark Yet that was up and quite popular here. I love how he does this song. It's more emotional than Dylan's.

Living Spring

Just returned from a great little trip to the beach though we were not there long. There's quite a cool northern breeze ablow and my friend wasn't dressed for it's effects. I got a few pebbles and two nice pieces of driftwood. The tide was high too so not a great day for a beach stroll. Pretty though as the blue skies make those red cliffs stand out beautifully.

My friend helped me with some light gardening as well. He rotated the garden claw while I picked weeds and I transplanted a bit of garlic and planted a few seeds. It was funny to be planting the world's tiniest little garden when I once had and cared for huge gardens here in the not so distant past. A job that ate me alive necessitated me to stop mine while I had created extensive ones there for a display, restaurant, flower, shurb and herb gardens. I planned to get it back to normal in mine this spring and have decided not to at this time. I'm healing instead.

Mavis Staples is on my mind today. I was playing a cd earlier and was groovin' to Mavis. Here she is with and she does Well, Well, Well with Maria Muldaur. Here's On My Way, Eyes On The Prize and another duet with John Mayall, Wake Up Call, The song I was groovin' too - Turn Me Around.

Lessons To Learn

My recovery is not going all that smoothly. I made light of the pepper incident yesterday but spent a couple of hours in emergency today to find out that I have pulled some internal stitches and some muscles but have no internal bleeding. I had a pretty painful afternoon and night last night, but didn't go to Emergency as I was going to town today anyway.

I am a fast mover and it's very hard for me to slow down long enough to relax. I went grocery shopping today and thought I was being good as my sister was pushing the cart. I had a serious weak spell when we were almost through and had to sit on a little step stool someone had left in the aisle. I would have resorted to the floor. That was when I decided for sure to go to the ER.

All is well. I just have to slow down, be a better patient, and of course, avoid pepper. Who knew it would be this hard?

I don't want to make All The Same Mistakes. Mieka Pauley has that covered. Another necessary song for today is Lean on Me by Bill Withers. I hardly ever play blues here. There's no reason for that as I love the blues and have a good collection. I'll remedy that with John Mayall and Mavis Staples doing Wake Up Call.

Eyes On The Prize

I'm so patiently waiting for warm weather or even cool weather without wind. Your body just wants to be outside this time of year, gardening. The weather forecast promises an improvement for next week. My son and his friend are here. They've just returned from golfing and said the cool wind was bothersome.

I know I say this quite often but it bears saying again. There sure is a lot of great music out there. Most musicians and groups have their own website and myspace page. Music bloggers provide a wealth of new music every day and then there's internet radio. My computer is never silent unless I am in bed. Music is a constant source of pleasure for me and I can never get enough. Praise to the internet for music fans.

Mavis Staples has a new album out. The four cuts I've heard from We'll Never Turn Back demonstrate the great gospel/soul music I've come to expect from Mavis. I've been a big Staples Singers fan since 1970 and followed Mavis when she went out on her own. Here are a couple of cuts from the new album, Eyes On The Prize and On My Way. Here's a link to the album on Amazon to see the fantastic album cover or to buy the album.

Coincidence Number Two: A falling baby, saved twice by the same man
In Detroit sometime in the 1930s, a young (if incredibly careless) mother must have been eternally grateful to a man named Joseph Figlock. As Figlock was walking down the street, the mother's baby fell from a high window onto Figlock. The baby's fall was broken and both man and baby were unharmed. A stroke of luck on its own, but a year later, the very same baby fell from the very same window onto poor, unsuspecting Joseph Figlock as he was again passing beneath. And again, they both survived the event. (Source: Mysteries of the Unexplained)