They come in the dark of night, hungry, eager for any tidbit that may still be left. A little nip here, a bit of grazing there and in the morning, the buds that had just begun to unfurl their petals have vanished. In their stead are the stumpy ends of deer-nipped stalks. Next year, I'll be sure to spray deer repellant!
She woke up happy, playful, even. But then she cried while I washed up the breakfast dishes, which isn't unusual. And she cried while we played in the living room. She cried while we read stories and she cried while Angie sat on the potty with a tummy complaint. She cried in the grocery store when she wasn't throwing food out of the cart. She cried in the car. Then she was blissfully silent. She'd fallen asleep. For one and a half hours, Angie and I enjoyed the silence. Then she woke up. She cried while we painted outside. She cried while we played in the yard. She cried upstairs and she cried downstairs. She cried in the bathtub and she cried while I put on her pajamas. And then she fell asleep again. This time, she was down for the night.
But at 11:30, she woke up happy and playful...for four hours. In the middle of the night. After a long and frustrating day. While her Papi was deeply asleep after his long and tiring day.
But today was better!
Well, I'll tell you what happened...we lost it. That's right. We turned our backs for two measly weeks and we lost it. I'm not sure where it went, and I've searched the house for it, but it just can't be found. So, I guess we'll just have to pick up a new one next week. Because this week sure isn't conduscive to introducing new routines into the environment.
"I want to plant along that fence line in the fall," I said, gazing at the clean, new wood of the back fence.
"Yeah, right," Miguel said disinterestedly.
"Hey," I protested. "I will."
"That's what you always say, and it never happens," he responded.
And, well, he's right. But really, it's not my fault. Well, maybe it is.
So, the gauntlet has been thrown, and I've picked it up. Now, our backyard is not the sunniest of locales. At least, the back of the back yard isn't. The front part gets plenty of afternoon sun, but the back is shrouded all day. And so, picking up plants at the local nursery is a bit of a challenge, because most of the plants they carry are sun loving plants. I don't have too many sunny spots. And you can only do so much landscaping with impatiens.
But I've begun the search for beautiful shade-loving plants and I'm inspired by what I've found. Did you know that the Bleeding Heart plant is a shade lover? Oh, the joy I felt, as that's one of my favorite plants. And there's one called Goatsbeard that will be gorgeous! Oh, and these Huecheras that have these tall spikes of pink flowers. And a winter blooming plant! But I haven't forgotten old favorites like Hostas and Hydrangeas and Rhododendrons and Azaleas either.
There's also this one area that just needs good ground cover, too, and I'm thinking of either Pachysandra or Vinca. I'm leaning toward the Vinca, though, because it's shorter and has these beautifull purple/blue flowers.
I'm working on the planning so I have to go and measure the areas I'm thinking of. And I'm going to have to do plenty of prepping before I even think about putting a plant in the ground, because that part of the yard has been a wasteland for a good many years. But we're composting, now, so that should help matters.
But I'm excited. I'm even going to start a saving plan for the plants. I can't wait, because I'm certain that I can create a beautiful landscape that will cost us only once and then be beautiful forever. (Miguel says the world is going to end in roughly 3 years, so we won't get as big a return on our investment as I'd thought!)
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