You Gotta be Flexible!

For the past seven or eight years I have kept an envelope in my desk at work.  It contained a sheet of paper with the date - 

June 1, 2013 - on it.  

 Yes, today. 

I had planned for today to be the first day of my retirement.

But life intervenes.  Companies close and people lose their jobs.  The market crashes and people lose their retirement funds.  Things change and you have to be flexible. 

There's a new envelope in my desk today.

September 1, 2015.

Keep your fingers crossed!

Wednesday Workday - Update on Projects

It was a lovely late spring weekend - more spring than summer - with an extra day so a perfect time to finish another of the projects for this year.

I had four projects for the spring:

1) Convert the xeri-garden to a veggie garden.  Check!  Changed my mind and kept half in xeri-plants (this is a huge space - nearly 50 square feet) so now am watering half.  The potatoes never came up, but I have a good crop of herbs - basil, parsley and cilantro - plus red and green leaf lettuce and Romaine.  Am very pleased with the results. 

The xeri half is gorgeous and smells wonderful.  Both the bees and butterflies are plentiful.

2) Divide the iris in the fish pond and clean out the lily pond.  Half check.  Cleaned the fish pond and divided the iris in April.  [With the fish, i really can't put off cleaning the pond, if i want them to live!]  But, so far no progress on the lily pond.  Maybe one hot July day I will do it and pump the water out into the surrounding space.  It will both water and feed the plants - probably a good use of both water and time!

3) Turn over the compost pile.  This is taking far longer than I planned, but am about half done.  Mitchell will be traveling on business a lot in June, so I hope to do it in the evenings while he is gone. 

4) Put in a "step" in front of the shed.  Check.  This was one of two big weekend achievements.  Mitchell says now I have a shed with a patio, but the doors can swing freely all the way open, so that I can get anything I need into or out of the shed.  A huge improvement and I am happy.

So, after two and a half months I have finished two goals and half of the other two.  Not unhappy about that. 

The rest of the weekend work time was spent in mulching.  Three trips to the garden center and 36 bags (nearly three cubic yards) of mulch later, it is all done.  I keep promising to do it earlier in the spring so that I don't have to work around all the big perennials, but failed again this year.  Maybe next year. 

Everything is lush and blooming full here.  Still cooler than usual and getting rain fairly often - no drought yet! - so hope that we will continue like this for a couple more weeks. 

I love the second flush of peonies.  They are smaller and easier for me to manage

in a vase.

Happy Week!

Reuniting and Celebrating

Last weekend we combined a mini-trip to see my college roommate with Mitchell's college reunion.  It's always special to see the place that our Someone Special became an adult.  

If you married your High School Honey or College Sweetheart, you were there for the transition, but if not, you probably know what i mean.  It's enlightening to learn about the place that shaped him and the people who knew him "when".  

Mitchell graduated from Westminster Choir College in Princeton, New Jersey - a small music college that turns out world class musicians.  When he was there the only choices were choral conducting or organ and they supplied the musical staff for countless churches across the county.  Today, one can also get a degree in music education and performance and they produce more than their fair share of Broadway singers and opera stars, as well.  A very interesting place.

The highlight for everyone annually is the actual graduation ceremony which is held in the Princeton University Chapel.  It's a gorgeous gothic church - just made for music.  From well-know hymns to new music composed by a graduating senior, to music written in the 50's specifically for the graduating classes to sing everything soared high into the vault.  And, nearly 1,000 people, most of whom were trained singers - undergraduates, the graduating class and alumni - can make a very joyful noise!

For Mitchell it was a time to see old friends and connect with new ones.  For me a time to learn more about this place that is so special to his past and so instrumental is shaping who he is today. 

Then off to see Elizabeth and Chuck, including a fun visit to a sheep and goat farm that makes wonderful cheeses.  She knows i love goats (and sheep, too) so had arranged for us to take a tour.  It was a fun trip, but more importantly a chance to reconnect with the best friend who keeps me on a even keel.

A good weekend all around!