12 Oakdale

The last day before we’re gone 6 weeks, visiting Betsy in New Zealand. I am so close to ready. My anxiety is peaking. I’ve worked like the devil in the yard, trimming back and putting down mulch to have it look good while we are gone. CC is coming 3 times to keep it pretty. I fear her spending too much time deadheading salvia and picking little weeds rather than yanking out torpedo grass. C’èst la vie. Note to self: print sign to remind yard guys to leave the cypress needles on the boathouse deck. Last year they blew it all in the canal before I could sweep it up for mulch. Also need to print sign reminding pool guy to keep the screen door closed so Gracie doesn’t leave. That one I’ll do in English, Spanish, and Portuguese. I planted eggplant and southern pea (aka black eye or cow peas) in the vegetable garden. I hope the peas twine up the string I tied to the trellis on the side. My plan is to get them above bunny height. Might work. The rabbits are keeping the sweet potatoes trimmed ...

After 3 days of rain, we are able to work in the yard. I wanted to trim the Japanese blueberries along our neighbor’s fence back to shrub level, rather than the small trees they have grown into. Time for more chainsaw work. And get the brush from a previous trimming reduced to mulch. Daunting work.  Debby came ashore in the Big Bend area, crossing Florida before heading up the coast. We ended up with 3 1/4” of rain and some wind, but thankfully, not enough to take out any more screens. Gracie was dismayed by the dampness, going out under the lanai, then coming back in. She missed her morning bunny watching. We didn’t loose power, only internet, which came back on in time for me to continue watching the Olympics. I’ve restricted myself mostly to the 3-hour evening recap, rather than the all day offerings. Sometimes I hear results before I get to see the event, but I really don’t care.  The day before the hurricane made landfall, Grant put together his 7-story plant tower, a Chr...

3 1/4” was the final tally on the rain yesterday. Tuesday, we got 1 1/4”. The yard and frogs are happy. Of the later, I saw a little thumbnail sized one this morning when I went outside to check the rain gauge. Yesterday, when I did my daily early morning inspection walk around the pool, Grace was watching what I would call a garden toad jump in the same place against the pool screen, over and over and over. It was still fruitlessly hopping there when I came back with a plastic box to capture it for its ride to the outside and freedom. Gracie wandered off. I have been working like crazy to get the yard as ready as I can for the 6 weeks we will neglect it while we are in New Zealand. I’m having CC come every Tuesday to help me. I’m trying to figure out what I can have her do while I’m gone. She loves to deadhead salvias. I want torpedo grass dug out. A management problem. Grant has been assigned to Roundup the edge of all the beds every Friday. That is making it easier for us to spend t...

And another trip to Gainesville, this time to console Barton. Last night, on her way home from work (counting bats), Jen was killed in an auto accident. Evidently, she had hit a dog, stopped and got out to see if it was dead, then she and her car were struck by another car. That driver was also injured, now recovering at Shands Hospital. Peg is on a cruise of the Great Lakes with Robert. They were in the middle of Lake Superior, heading to Mackinac Island when Barton was able to get in touch with them. No easy airport access, and little phone service. They will stay on the ship until Thursday, when the cruise gets to its final port. I know they are beside themselves, not being able to come home immediately. As soon as we got Robert’s text, we cleaned up from working in the yard and headed north. Poor Barton. We sat and listened. His uncle and cousin arrived a couple of hours later, then Jen’s best friends and one of Barton’s came. Already too much food. Other friends were heading his w...

Good grief. On our way north, I saw parts of Florida I hadn’t seen in years. Between construction on the turnpike and accidents (Kathy’s phone said 4), my GPS app Waze routed us along backroads hither and yon. A stop for a coke and to pee after one of the suggested side roads was closed, and we had to go even further afield. Finally, we got on I-75, slow but at least moving. Originally planned as a visit to my dearest friend, coincidentally it was Gainesville Fine Art Association’s annual showcase weekend. After our dinner at the Top (gnocchi with pesto sauce for me), we stopped at the opening reception, met some of the artists who are Sally’s friends, and perused the map to decide on which studios we wanted to visit the next day. Up at not o’dark hundred, followed by leisurely breakfast. First stop was a group of artists that rent studios at a Presbyterian church which no longer needs the rooms as Sunday school classes since the congregation doesn’t have any young people. The greying ...

Tuesday, we took the red eye back from San Diego, however because we flew Delta, it wasn’t a direct flight. We stopped in Atlanta at 4:45 AM, waited 2 hours, then flew home. Not only was my normal 6 hours of airplane sleep interrupted, but ironies of ironies, I’d paid for first class seats, and I couldn’t get comfortable. Too wide to learn against the window. At least I had the blanket to cuddle up in. I’m rethinking if the extra dollars are worth it.  We arrived at our doorstep at 10:00, exactly when I was supposed to call Steph’s attorney to answer questions about what I was going to say about our buying the house with her. I dialed the number as soon as I turned the ignition off, only to be told he would call me back after he finished his current call. I had figured that would happen, but didn’t want to take a chance. After wasting more of her money chatting with him for about a half and hour, he mentioned the trial, scheduled for Wednesday, our wedding anniversary, might be can...

Easy flight to San Diego, upgraded to first class, with me in a window seat on the front row, and Grant back in the last. A chance for me to see if the bulkhead seat makes me claustrophobic. Wouldn’t be my first choice, but an upgrade is an upgrade. Welcome to the fun chaos of a household with 2 active children. Grandma, grandma, grandma. Music to my ears. I had written to the San Diego Audubon Society for birding ideas, and Peter answered with a suggestion of the Tijuana Estuary, a place to see ridgeway rails.  At the crack of mid morning, we were there. Little legs didn’t move very fast or cover much ground. After a while, Grant, toting the scope, offered to sit on a bench with Remi while Bella and I walked to the end of the path. She and I saw great egrets, black-necked stilts, a peregrine falcon kiting in field, and more, but no rails. We were assured by a woman we met, they were there, including some chicks. I was skeptical we’d see one since rails are notoriously shy. Yet, af...