Friday ...

   One of the things I like about planting bulbs randomly in a garden bed is the excitement that comes when they start to bloom.  I've long lost the picture showing me what they will look like, and have recycled the brain cells that would have remembered what I ordered.  So they come up as a mystery and each bloom is a new surprise.

  Some of the buds that have not yet opened appear to be white and yellow flowers.  The image to the right doesn't show the delicate pink of the blossom.

  Several weeks ago I was given some nearly dead hostas that were not happy about having been planted in full sun.  I moved them to a shady area on the side of the house and they have just exploded with happiness.  I've already put in an order for more to plant this fall, (shame on flower porn brochures and catalogs) along with some ferns and other shade-loving flowers.  Eventually, I want to put down rocks and paver stones for a walkway but would like to somehow get a fence up first.

  I have wish-listed some whimsical gnomes and rabbits, which is why I'd like to have a fence up before investing in decorating the area.  It won't work to put anything solar out there because it really won't get any sun until autumn and winter when the leaves on the trees fall.  Thankfully, the owners of the empty lot next door have been working to get it cleaned up and I'm grateful for that.  It's a slow process because it appears just one young man has been doing the work, and I think there was several years worth of accumulation in the lot between weeds, dead branches, and junk.

  The climbing rose bush I planted before I realized that the side yard would be completely shaded in the summer refuses to give up and is even putting out buds for flowers a little unexpectedly.  I'm calling her Amazon Rose.  I don't remember what color the blooms will be so it will be another surprise.

     There is a tuxedo cat that lives next door that I have a wave~wide eye relationship with.  I wave and she looks at me with wide eyes wondering why the crazy lady next door is waving.  They also have a small terrier type of dog named Molly, whom Charlie insists on getting into a barking argument with whenever she is in the window.

  The cat reminds me of my Oreo, and makes me miss him.  I suppose one day when Gracie has gone, I may get another tuxedo kitten to keep Lucy entertained.  But I will have to see how the health issues play out.

  One of the many odd health issue symptoms I've been having are ulcers on my tongue and throat which make talking very painful at times.   Since my job entails me talking all day on the phone, it can be very exhausting at the end of ten hours.  Currently I have a rather large ulcer on the left side of my tongue, which prefers that I do not talk (or eat), but silence isn't an option until Sunday at the earliest, and not eating is not an option.  The doctor has tested them and is not sure what is causing them.  The three blood tests done the last time I saw him were all to check for auto-immune/cancer issues.  All three came back high, one extremely higher than the others.  I had to wait for more comprehensive insurance to start at the beginning of this month before we can pursue other definitive tests, which will begin this coming Wednesday.

  I'm just so tired.