onward!

From TS White's Bestiary

I've been up since five...theoretically lining up my pencils, stuffing my bag with old work, looking at random maps and then looking at MapQuest and back again. I have to get K's lunch done and get her up. Then it's gas and go. Looks like my drive to Central PA will be peaceful and nice--back roads, clear skies and cold still (frost warnings until 8 a.m. today). Chet the Lawnmower man was here and made our verdant grass look like combed velvet. Mandy moved all the "blue" hosta to the front of the house and made us a gift of a mammoth blue one which she split into four and socked in with our small offerings that we have been "cultivating" here and there on the property.

I am nuts for my tree peonies that are about a week away from the big fat buds blowing out into enormous fluffy flowers. I have put tree peonies all over the place too...and as they get bigger and woodier and able to take the deer mano a mano...I think they will be able to survive their nibbling torture. Nothing is quite like what they have at the Cornell Plantations, but we aspire...can't we? We have doubled our monarda (bee balm) as the scent (bergamot...something in Earl Grey tea) is not apppealing to the deer...and they have a nice show or red or purple (in our case) without any interruption.

K and I had a nice dinner talking about her favorite topics: boys, teenage social networkings, biology and art.The collisions of those topics are amusing and it is fun to see K. pick her way through that. I always have such a nice time with her...finding out her passion for chunks in soup, that if reincarnated--she would come back as a cockroach and so on. I came back and finished the last gasp for Carol Elizabeth, so we can have a package done by the end of the week. The night before was late because of the animal client...so a break in the wall of work is opening so we can catch our breaths before the next enslaught.

gotta go.