Wordless Wednesday

I had a lovely day . . . Jada . . . did not.

I had the loveliest day yesterday.

The sun was out after a week and a half of gloom, Jada and I went for a long walk and then Jada got a much needed, long overdue bath.

As I said. . .I had a lovely day. Jada's however, went down hill the minute we entered the store for her bath.

Jada hates a bath and for the past few years I have been lucky enough to do it at the pet store down the road leaving them with dirty water and hair splattered from one end of the room to the other.

It's fabulous people, absolutely fabulous. Well worth the $20 (includes access to the reverse vacuum that helps blow her dry. Which, considering her double coat, is essential.)

Jada was grumpy for the rest of the day.

Jesse came up, sat on the chair beside her, began petting her and asked "hey did you give her a bath?? She's so soft!"

Jada grumbly growled.

Jesse laughed.

A while later Holly came up for a little dog love and asked her "Jada did you get a bath? You are so soft!"

Jada grumbly growled. She was not happy.

Holly giggled.

Jada spent the rest of the day sulking on my bed. On my white duvet. . . which was a little damp when I went to bed.

Poor Jada, I should have had my mom over to tell her what she always told me and my sisters on Saturday nights while putting put our hair into foam rollers in preparation for church the next day . . .

"If you want to look beautiful it has to hurt!"

Why I'm NOT a Big Fat Liar . . .

A while back I wrote a post that talked about how much I want to write.

I meant every word when I wrote it. I still do. So I'm not really a big fat liar, I just forgot something. . .

My other passion.

The snow had finally melted, plants were in the greenhouse and it was time for a plant sale! And plant sales are a lot of work, believe you me.

So. . . no time to write.

Plant sales don't last forever though and mine finally came to an end. So I should have time to write. Right??

Wrong.

Now it was time to redo my back garden. Because isn't that what you do every year?

 You don't???

Huh. I seem to.

This year is different though. This year my mind is swirling with all the new things I want to learn and try. I've bought books on concrete sculpting, signed up for a Fine Arts Grunge Composition Photoshop Artistry course, taken a one on one photography lesson (which took place in part in Greenland garden center !) and have a stack of books beside my chair on decorative painting to refresh my memory on techniques.

I love my garden but the time has come to finish it off and enjoy it rather than constantly changing it. I want to tweak it every year instead of constantly reinventing it.

To that end I have been emptying out the garden centers in some of my favorite big box stores, taking advantage of Nicole's garden hardscape skills and nagging  sweetly suggesting to Henry that this is the year to finish up all the garden projects that have been dragging on (ahem), waiting to be finished.

So I've been gardening nearly non stop in between all that other stuff I just told you about, leaving no time for writing.

But I'm getting close to the end and I love, love, love how things are coming together in the back garden!

As soon as I'm done I'll have a before and after post.

And, if you were wondering after my last post??? I was brave. Not only did I garden toothless in the front garden, I also ran to Winners in search of garden ornamentation to jazz things up a bit. I figured I would just pretend to be rummaging in my purse with my head down when the clerk asked me anything. It was a good plan. Except, I forgot it when I was actually at the cash register.

Arghhh.

Oh well she didn't look at me too weirdly. Maybe she didn't notice.

 The truth is though, even if she had??? Somehow I just didn't care.

How awesome is that??? Not that I want to do it again anytime soon . . .

I leave you with a few pictures of my front garden which is finally mostly finished with just a little tweaking each year . . .

Dental Dilemma . . .or . . . How Brave AM I ???

So here's the dilemma. . .

The dentist is finally back in town and I had an appointment first thing this morning.

I woke up at 5:30, grabbed a quick breakfast and made a bee line for the front garden.

Shovel in hand, I got to work. I knew I would be top toothless all day and I just had to get a little gardening in. I have a profusion of shrubs, roses, perennials and annuals that need to be planted . Some things just can't wait!

I managed to tidy up one small spot in the garden and plant a clematis, a rose bush and a bunch of annuals in the area before my dentist's appointment. I also added one of my concrete leaves. It's covering a small ant colony I just can't seem to get rid of.

Live and let live. . . that's my motto.

Anyway. . . back to the dilemma . . 

After visiting the dentist I am missing these. . .

Leaving me looking somewhat like this . . .  (except, I'm a girl. . . and I wear glasses . . .)

So here's the dilemma. . .

Today is the perfect gardening day. Cloudy and cool with the the odd sprinkle.

I've barely made a dent in what needed to be done in the garden. . .

Am I brave enough to work out front without my top teeth??? (Keeping my head down and my mouth shut of course . . .)

I am just itching to get out there.

I'm just not sure if I can do it.

Could you???

Dental Disaster! or . . . Grumpy, Grumpy, Grumpy . . .

While eating a fried egg sandwich late last night, disaster hit.

I lost a front tooth!!!

Arghhhhh . . . 

The upside is that I have dentures on top so the tooth can be glued back in and I will not have to spend an inordinate amount of time in the dentist chair. Thankfully, this also means I will not have to spend an exorbitant amount of money to fix it either.

The downside is . . . they have to take my denture for a good part of the day as it has to be sent to the denture clinic!

That leaves me toothless!

Yikes! I am never. ever. without my teeth. I won't even leave them in a glass with bubbly cleaner overnight.

Shudder.

Of course these things always happen when you have better things to do than hang around the house without your top teeth.

There is only one thing I can do.

The plant sale will be closed tomorrow while I hide in my bedroom with a couple of good books, a tin of oatmeal cookies and a carafe of tea.

I will be open for one final day on Saturday and I have something special planned for the last day of the sale.

Stay tuned . . .

Counting My Blessings

As I sit at my desk this afternoon cool air drifts through an open patio door, bringing with it a hint of rain.

The sweet smell of a mayday tree perfumes my office.

Joyful shrieks tell of little neighbor girls playing tag next door.

Jada lays in the doorway, the occasional yip and small whine a testament to her dreams.

Butter, soft and yellow waits in the bottom of a mixing bowl, destined to become delicious oatmeal cookies.

Purple pansies bring to mind the carefree days of childhood.

After months of being confined to home and, for the most part, my chair, I've been pushing myself pretty hard these last few months, planting, creating and learning so many new things to bring my dreams to life.

But now. . . for a little while. . .  it's time to rest and count my blessings.

My abundant blessings.

God is good.

Dutch Birthday Calendars

I have very clear memories of my Oma Vandermolen's bathroom in Chilliwack.

I'm not entirely sure why a bathroom holds such strong memories for me but but two things stood out in my mind. . .

The lilac scented can of air freshener on the toilet tank (I found that unsettling because it meant my Oma acknowledged that sometimes poop was stinky. . .) and the Dutch birthday calendar that hung on the back door of the bathroom.

As a girl who has to read when ever and wherever possible, I appreciated both the pretty picture and the opportunity to catch up on who had a birthday that month.

 I thought she was a genius!

After all . . . how many times do you go to the bathroom a day? There would be no excuse when it came to remembering someone's birthday . . .

Mine for example. . .

In honor of my Oma (and my mother-in-law) I decided to put together a Dutch Birthday calendar of my own using some of the photo's I've taken over the past year.

If you would like to have one of these calendars on your bathroom door you're in luck! I will be selling them at my Plant Sale starting this Thursday for $12 each.

Now I'm off to hunt up a hammer and a nail to install one in my bathroom!