Gardening

I put that fence around the daffodil foliage a few minutes ago. I should have plenty of daffodils next year, and if I put the fence up earlier, they will increase each year.

Lexi spent Sunday and Monday nights with me. On Monday morning, she moved some dirt while I cleaned out the flower bed in front of the front porch. Then she helped me plant the new bleeding heart roots. The package said one root, but there were two in it, so I had to dig another hole. I also planted some tarragon and parsley seeds I bought last year and never planted in the end of that bed that gets the most sun. By then I needed a knitting break.


Later I went back outside and cleaned out some spaces on the south side of the house. When I was almost finished with that, Lexi appeared and I had her plant the 25 gladiolus corms while I dug holes for three peonies I wanted to move from a spot that doesn't get enough sun. I had her use the blade of the trowel to space the corms before she planted any of them, and showed her which way they should be put in the holes.

In digging the first hole for the peonies, the spade hit a large rock or root, and I wound up on the ground. With one foot on the ground and the other on the back of the spade, it didn't take much to throw me off balance. I was surprised that I wasn't sore the next morning. After I got the peonies moved, I decided I'd done enough gardening for the day.

About that time the nine-year-old twins (girl and boy) who are visiting next door this week appeared, and Lexi went over to introduce herself. She and Brittany spent the rest of the day together.

On Tuesday morning, I moved some hosta (I have plenty of it on the north side of the house and of the shed) to the area where I took out the peonies. There were two clumps of hosta sort of underneath a bleeding heart. I thought I'd dig up both clumps, but I got half a dozen divisions from just one of them, so left the other one where it was.

My flowering crabapples (four pink and one white), dogwood (one white), lilac and one of the redbuds are in bloom, so there's lots of color in the yard. Lexi asked me if dogwood flowers can be pink. When I said they can, she said then she has seen a lot of dogwood in bloom in Mayfield. I'm glad she had observed the shape/style of the tree and of the flowers on my tree, which she knows is a dogwood, and recognized other dogwoods even though the flower color is different.

Medical:

Yesterday was my oncology visit and then the knitting group at the coffee shop. My red blood count is slightly low, so Dr Winkler ordered further tests to see what vitamins, etc, need to be increased. I guess I'll find out next week.

Fibersrts:

At the knitting group. Lisa G asked me when I was going to do more spinning. She has a small farm with several varieties of fiber animals, as well as chickens and beef cattle. She said she had someone shear recently and wondered if I was needed a fleece. I have plenty of wool to spin already, but I emailed her today that I am interested in a Southdown/Baby Doll fleece just to see what it's like.

That conversation yesterday inspired me to lay down my knitting needles for a while today and do other fiberarts stuff. I wound off a quarter of the warp for some of the rugs I'm planning to weave for kids who have aged out of foster care, and then I spun for about an hour. Of course I also did plenty of knitting.