OWAV:)...05/14/11...5am...50°...Cloudy

Have some catching up to do today...Got through the sorority birthday party...It is the only party where we exchange gifts, as we are "old" and don't need more stuff...I came home with a sun tea jar, very useful for the summer months...now onto the "Dandelion Festival" coming up next weekend...we each have to make two pies to sell, and volunteer in the booth selling them...last year the weather was wonderful and we had good sales...again it will depend on the weather how well we do...time will tell...

Primroses as well as daffodils are in bloom

Pat arrived yesterday at 10am and we worked on our memoir assignment, which starts with a prompt of: "I wonder what happened to so and so?"...We had tea, visited, and related our stories to each other so we could come up with more ideas...We have to have 5 double spaced pages to turn in on Monday night...We walked around the yard looking for plants, that I can dig and share with her, that will grow in her new garden at the lake...To me that is what gardening is about... Sharing the bounty of new starts.

I finished up scrabble games...Went to Alder Slope Nursery to get more bedding plants to finish filling my small planters and repotting others into larger pots so they will be a good size when it is time to plant the barrels...So many things to choose from there...I spent 2 hours making my decisions and came home with three flats...Never begrudge the money spent on starts...because they become a memorial to our parents, that brings joy to all of us who are still living...I quote my Mother-in-law, "Flowers are for the living, don't waste them on me when I'm gone".  In keeping with this wish, every year I plant so the living can enjoy and on the occasion that we get to McCall and Council, we place a single rose on each of our parents graves.

Sharpening Wheel

Speaking of parents, brings me to another thought...A few years ago Rusty arrived with an old "sharpening wheel" for me to use as garden art...I don't remember now, if he knew the significance of this particular piece or if he just thought it would make a good addition to my collection...I'm reminded of the many hours Daddy spent peddling one similar to this contraption, while he sharpened mowing machine sickles...Soon his strong, stocky body  was soaked in sweat, sparks flying as the metal of the blades hit the moving stone, as he peddled and balanced the 8 foot long sickle bar...This was one of the ways he saved money, as the individual blades could be sharpened several times before they had to be replaced with new blades...I think Daddy had somehow made his sharpener, using an old bicycle frame.  

Funny thing I saw in the paper last night...Enterprise Schools are advertising for a "Part Time Football"...On that note I will close for another day...OWAV:)