Birthdays

Today our country celebrates it's birthday and two days ago I celebrated mine. Not with fireworks and hoopla of any sort but it did not go by unnoticed. My friend Christine and I drove up to Woodenville to go to Molbaks 2 for 1 plant sale and then on over to Flower World to take advantage of the 15% off sale. This is a birthday present I look forward to every year. Christine is the best of friends; she does the driving AND buys me lunch. And all along the way we talk, talk, talk about our classrooms (we teach in different schools), our families, our vacations, our health, and our gardens. So what did I buy? The list is long, the bottom line was about $125. and worth every penny. Today I put everything except a couple ground covers into place. I am most satisfied with the plants that I bought to put in front of the weigela (Red Trumpet Flower) along the south fence. The bed is curved and I already have Iron Cross Oxalis and Wax begonias on the edge. The new comers to that area are 4 Limemound Spirea and 3 Day Lilies with orange petals streaked in red, which should look very nice in front of the orange Crocosmia. I'll take a picture soon. Right now you will have to be content with the shot of the little urchin in the above photo: me at age two! I see very little resemblance to the me of today aside from the fact that I had a bad hair day in 1956 and I did this year too. Blame it on humid weather!
Well, I hear snaps, crackles and pops filling the air so within an hour I will go to a park to see what I can see of the fireworks. I'll be sticking close to home. Front row seats to fireworks in Seattle come with a price tag of snarled traffic and a ride home that is three times lengthier than usual; not my idea of fun.