poplar road

My back and my feet hurt, but it's worth having got so much done today. I planted the last dozen or so of my gladiola bulbs in the west side garden, hauling soil from the back yard a bucketful at a time; I set fire to the gigantic pile of scrap lumber, tree trimmings and brush that was five feet high in the back of the yard, and kept it going until it was a foot high pile of charcoal; I planted the dozen impatiens I bought a few weeks ago, now that it's not supposed to freeze overnight (oddly, the containers said primulas), again hauling soil; and I watered, checked all the beds for things coming up that might need help against the weeds and grass, and carried the last of the trimmings to my bonfire. I also couldn't resist Cama's expectant look as she waited by the back gate. I let her and Flora in, and then dragged Richard away from his 4x4 repairs long enough to try to get pictures.

Flora is extremely curious about new things, including people. Every time we visit she comes up to me to touch nose to nose. I wanted Richard to get a shot of that, only she hadn't seen him in a while and found him – and the camera – much more interesting, so we were only able to get her to approach him then, not me. My efforts to hold out the camera far enough and at the right angle to get a picture of us myself, after Richard left, resulted in some hilarious close-ups of fuzzy nostrils and eyelashes as she went for the camera every time. I did manage to get a few of Cama as I fed her alfalfa. That's the only time she'll let me pet her. Richard has come in from working on the truck, blackened like a chimney sweep, so I'll sign off for the night. Lots of work to do on the computer now that the sun's gone down. It was a gorgeous day.