We have a garden!

The average last freeze date for Bloomington is supposed to be April 15. So, does that mean it is safe to finally plant something? Only about half of the time.

We planted some tulips in front of the house last fall. They were supposed to be white, pink, maroon, and white with purple edges. Unfortunately, the maroon came up more fuschia or purple. And the white came up looking . . . yellow, with red streaks.

I guess they were mislabeled. The overall effect is a bit like Mardi Gras. I was hoping to have pink and maroon flowers in the front of the house, to harmonize with the gray and white house and go with the maroon front door. Purple and yellow weren't exactly what I was picturing. At least the yellow tulips are big and beautiful. And the yellow seems to fade a bit as they open fully. Or am I fooling myself?

I was so eager for spring I couldn't wait for warm weather, so I started some seeds indoors.


We planted them yesterday.


We hope to have cornflowers, blue and white morning glories, moon flowers, and lady lavender (a lot like true lavender, but blooms the first year and is slightly less invasive) by the trellis. So far, we have . . . bean sprouts.


We have tulips in the backyard, too. They were supposed to be purple. I suspect they are the exact same variety as the ones out front that were supposed to be maroon.


Oh, well. At least they came up. I think the hydrangeas next to them are alive. But I have serious doubts about the lilac bush. Other people have actual lilac blooms in their yards right now. I have some tiny buds on the end of dry sticks.


I think I have garden jealousy. "Thou shalt not covet they neighbors shrubs." The book "The Princess Bride" says that originally, all jealousy was reserved to plants. That's where the phrase "green with envy" came from. Tee-hee.


Maybe I can just stick these pansies in front of the slow-growing lilac bush. It IS a rather small bush.


Our snowball bush has little blossoms on it. They're just more green than white. Is there such a thing as acid snow? Maybe that's why its green. I have fond memories of a snowball bush in the house where I grew up. A branch with a "snowball" on the end makes an excellent fairy wand.


Out front, the little faux gas lamp will be surrounded by echinacea, red morning glories, cosmos, and zinnias. I hope the cosmos attract as many caterpillars and butterflies as last year. Dharma loves to chase the butterflies. But they cheat: they can fly and she can't.

Dharma has been enjoying the warm weather, too.

Guests

We managed to put the guest room at Johnson's Meeting House to use again over Easter weekend. Derek's mom and stepdad came to see us.

Left to right: Terry, Gerry, and Derek

They had planned to come last October, but Terry (the stepdad) fell and broke his foot, which made driving 11 hours to see us sound a LOT less appealing. They brought their puppy, a Maltese named Abby.


Abby and Dharma met last Christmas when we stayed with them (and, crazy people that we are, took Dharma with us.) I would say they learned to tolerate each other, that's about all. This visit they did play a little bit, but we made sure to keep them in different rooms when we were gone.

Dharma says "Who is this, and WHAT is she doing on my pillows?"

Dharma kept stealing Abby's toys. And even a whole bag of her things!

Bad doggie!

Nonetheless, both doggies were visited by the Easter Bunny. They shared the treats fairly well. Abby had an easter-egg print bandana and Dharma had a little spring frock from Emilie's mom, and they both looked adorable. Clearly, dog spoiling runs in BOTH families.


The non-puppies among us had Easter brunch at the Tudor Room, a restaurant in the IU Memorial Union. It is, as the name suggests, a gothic revival style hall. The food was nice, our server was sweet, and we all had more than enough good things to eat. On the other hand, they need to hire me next year to organize them. Reservations were lost, lines were formed and then ignored, some people gave up and left without dinner, kids cried, and everyone waited much longer than necessary. Step one to fixing this mess? Get someone with good English skills to work at the reception stand. Really. The person working there was not able to answer questions like "Is this the right line for people with reservations?" On a more cheerful note, we also walked around and admired the flowers and trees on campus. They were lovely, and set off our Easter bonnet and flowery dresses very well.


Emilie had to keep teaching all week, but Derek was able to take the week off. He took our guests to Indianapolis, the outlet mall in Edinburgh, and lovely downtown Bloomington. Emilie joined them to go to Nashville. Much eating and shopping was enjoyed by all. Well, Derek probably enjoyed the eating somewhat more than the shopping.

Next post: spring gardening update!

Birthday...or birth week

Emilie is a year older. And she managed to drag out the festivities for over a week. It helped that Ivy Tech decided to honor her birth with a week of Spring Break.

Siberian Iris. Not at Ivy Tech, just a sign of spring.

One present that came in the mail was supposed to be opened at once. So the puppy could start wearing it immediately.

On her birthday, Emilie slept late and then opened presents. Opening presents in bed is a bit like having breakfast in bed. But without the crumbs.

There were so many gifts . . .

That Dharma had to help open some.

Then yet another present came in the mail.

It was a shirt from Derek, in Emilie's new favorite color. (And it apparently matches Dharma's eyes, too.) Is that what business people call just-in-time inventory?

Puppy in pink

The nice lady at London Dog ordered some special coats to fit dachshunds. Most doggie clothes don't fit them so well, and then their little tummies get cold. So I spent way too much money on this cute little pink, soft, fleece jacket.


The brand is TeckelKlub. Teckel is German for dachshund. No, actually, they don't call them dachshunds in German. They are sometimes called Dachels, which I think is some sort of diminuation of dachshund. Dachs means badger (not to be confused with Dach, roof.) Full-sized doxies were bred to hunt badgers. That's why they are so fierce. Would YOU want to head down a tunnel with a badger at the other end? Me neither. The mini doxies were used to hunt weasels--also not an easy job.

Dachshunds can even compete in an event called "Earthdog." They have to track down rabbits (or rabbit-scented items) in underground tunnels. I think Dharma would love that. She likes to dig and burrow. And she thinks the trellises are little doggie tunnels. Isn't it nice that we have a doggie playground in our backyard? Boy is she going to be mad when we move the trellises.

On a chilly night recently, Dharma and Emilie both wore matching pink pjs. Yep, that is totally disgusting. But, boy, were we cozy!

Signs of Spring

Our last post was about a foot of snow. Well, with the melting snow comes signs of spring...

Our trees and bushes are starting to get their buds...

Our tree in our front yard

Our lilac bush

And one of the hydrangeas (we're not too sure about the other one)

Now that the buds are on the trees, Emilie has also started making plans...

The pots are ready

Emilie has plenty of seeds on hand

Emilie is going to take the trellises (from our neighbor's tent that was destroyed in the remnants of Hurricane Ike), stand them up on end, and grow some viney plants on them.

I have been instructed to get this arch assembled so we can put it in front of our gate at the back of the yard

Another sign of spring? Robins! These two birds (one on each side of the fence) came out to say "Hello" while I was taking pictures. (Then they saw Dharma and decided it was best to fly off to safer territory.)


Oh, and the final "sign" of spring? Us wishing everybody a Happy Valentine's Day!


Dharma is in her Valentine's Day best, too!

It snowed this week, just a little bit.

Emilie's mom sent Dharma a little doggie vest for cold, wet weather. It is quite reflective.

It matches Emilie's new coat.

Dharma's coat arrived just in time for the biggest snow storm of the year. It snowed.

And snowed.

And snowed some more. Derek had to shovel snow just so a little doggie could get outside to do her business!

Derek also had to shovel the driveway. Three times.

Derek's new weather station was buried in snow.

So we had to turn to more primitive methods of measurement. It snowed more than twelve inches in all.
And it is just starting to melt.

Books, books, books!

The new bookshelf isn't QUITE full, yet.

Books are one of my favorite gifts, to give and to receive. As I mentioned, we got lots of books for Christmas. Here are a few of them:

The City of Dreaming Books, a novel about a fantasy world obsessed with books.

Swindled: The Dark History of Food Fraud, from Poisoned Candy to Counterfeit Coffee, by Bee Wilson (this one is part of my weight-loss program!)

Maps that Made History, by Lez Smart (Is that his real name?)

The Garden in Bloom, Ann Lovejoy (So nice to read when it is snowing outside!)

Sacred Food: Cooking for Spiritual Nourishment, Elisabeth Luard (With recipes.)

The Naming of Names, Anna Pavord (A really cool book about Linnaeus and binomial nomenclature.)

How to Cook a Hippopotamus: The Folio Book of Quaint and Curious Advice (Includes "How to Behave on a Sinking Ship," "The Market Value of Good Manners," and a recipe for Bear Rump Roast.)

When you Catch an Adjective, Kill It: The Parts of Speech, for Better and/or Worse, Ben Yagoda (This brings to mind a friend's t-shirt: English doesn't borrow words from other languages. It knocks them out in dark alleyways and goes through their pockets, looking for loose grammar.)

Bizarre Books: A Compendium of Classic Oddities, Russell Ash and Brian Lake (Such as "Living with the Dead," "How to Avoid Work" and "The Art of Faking Exhibition Poulty." I haven't noticed How to Cook a Hippopotamus in here, but I'm not finished reading. Unfortunately, this book lacks ordering information!)

So, let me know: what books did you get for Christmas?

Daily doxie dose:

Even a puppy can't make this carpet look good! Doesn't she look disapproving? This ugly carpet was in our hotel on the way to Kansas. We learned there are two kinds of hotels that accept dogs: the kind where Paris Hilton stays with her little chihuahuas and the kind where a little dog pee can't really make the room any dirtier. Seriously.

Home improvement

Derek would like to state, for the record "I hate home improvement projects!" We managed to take an entire evening to put up a second towel bar in the guest bath. Someone might have lost the drill, then someone might have not held the drill very steady while drilling. If you do that, the hole ends up too big. Then the plastic anchor disappears into the little hole. (We eventually just pushed it in and let it fall down in between the walls. 'Bye-bye little plastic problem!) Then we had to find a bigger anchor and a bigger screw. Someone even insisted on using the level to make sure the towel bar was perfectly straight. But, we got it done.


I'm not sure it was worth it. Even though I did hang some pictures I made over the new towel bar. That part went much better.


And, don't forget, your daily dachshund dose. Here is Dharma, trying to prevent Derek from playing video games. After all, he should be playing with HER.