We tried to fix the washing machine so that we could at least say we had. No luck. I went to Lowe’s and got a toilet seat. I’m now about to go clean the bathroom. That’s right. I am cleaning the bathroom rather than looking at my novel. I may even do some dishes. Fertilize the beds. Mark out where I want my vegetables.
Or, hell, put this post down and go get the bed ready for my vegetables. I should start hardening them off so they’re ready to go out next weekend. It’s hot out there. I should turn the air on in here, but it feels wrong, considering we just stopped needing the heat on at night last week. I’m going to try to make it through the weekend without it, since it’s supposed to behave more like spring next week.
My garden is going to be very, very small this year. We’ll see how it goes. I was going to do a hay bale garden, but that seems like a lot of work. So, I’m devoting the sunny end of the big bed to some vegetables. We’ll see how it goes.
I have to tell you, I’m so tickled by the yellow rose that I’m almost embarrassed by my love of it. The flowers are simple, but, when I imagine a huge old rose bush sitting right by the porch, I am delighted! I’ve got some leaf yellowing on the plant, but I’ve looked up online and the four reasons for leaf yellowing appear to be “fucking with the roots on accident while weeding” (and I think we all know I’m not doing that); “too much fertilizer” (nope); “too little/too much water” (I’m going to give “too much water” a “yes” but not my fault!); and “too hot too fast for new roses that aren’t established yet” (yep).
So, I’m not too worried about it. Rain is what it is, right? And it’s going to cool off here next week, some, so that should help that. Still, I’ve got my eye on it.
And there’s a huge bee in the front bed, who comes over to check me out whenever I’m out looking at the rose. It’s funny. I loved bees when I was little. i can remember holding them and petting them. Then you get stung and it’s like “AAAAAaaaaaaayyyy, I hate bees!” Then you start to garden and you feel like “Yes!” when there’s a bee in your garden, because a bee in your garden means you’re not fucking up too bad.
It feels early for bees, but I’m not going to complain.
I’m excited, too, because the Professor has all these recipes that call for lavender that she wants to try and my lavender, at least the two that always look good, look great! The two scraggly ones continue to look small and scraggly, but what can you do?
And the lilac is in full bloom! I have my eye on the smaller one, to see if it forms buds this year. I’m rooting for it.
And that’s it. It’s too hot out there to do anything else. Bleh.
Okay, off to conquer the bathroom.
Tiny Cat Pants 
lavender!!!
Do watch your roses for fungus. This blasted wet-followed-by-hot business is Fungus Heaven.
I bought a scraggly pink rose on clearance once, though, and that thing is still going like mad, 13 years later. I hardly have to do anything other than prune it back in the fall. And I got it for $2 because they thought it was “pretty much dead”. Roses are funny.
By the way, are you still thinking about heirloom gardening? One of my FB friends is way into it and has a lot of sources for non-corporate seeds.
I got my seeds this year from nm! And I believe they are heirloom.
They are from Seed Savers Exchange, because the only seeds I’m actually good at saving myself are beans. They are heirlooms. Including what I think is the most delicious eggplant in the world. Also I promised you some okra seeds, right?
And, as a word of encouragement to anyone else local reading this who wants to grow heirloom veggies but who like me is lousy about growing her or his own transplants, let me toss out my yearly recommendation for Marianna’s Heirloom Seeds in Dickson, where I get transplants of heirloom tomatoes, eggplants, peppers, and more. She’s been growing some of the varieties for decades now, so they are completely suited to local weather conditions and all.