Begging Pardon Promise

Wife with her New Garden

With all due respect to Lynn Anderson I did promise my wife a rose garden (repeatedly and at each house we’ve owned). Yesterday she redeemed the promise when I returned home from work. We may have permanently lost the Keene Friend as a part time boarder, at least for the summer, as he was swept up in my wife’s garden creating vortex as well. I warned him that she was dangerous to be around during the summer months. She regards any of my more indolent activities as a target rich environment to improve her vast garden array.

Starting Point - New Garden Traced out by Rope

My Favorite Son had given her a gift card for a major rose provider (who knew they existed?) several years ago. Our return to nomadic living over the past few years mitigated against purchasing any roses but it seems we’re actually putting down roots in Worcester so she sought out the long dormant gift card which resulted in five roses showing up late one night. The target area was a corner of the yard with granite stones and her Virgin Mary statue. It also meant cutting into the newly emerging lawn which was painful after all the time I spent watering the damned thing over the past couple weeks.

We Got a Thumbs Up

With Keene Friend’s truly welcome assistance we had the grass removed (reused in some developing bare spots) and the holes dug. This is when my Favorite Panamanian sprung some more plants she wanted to add to her array. While we were digging my wife had taken the rope we had used to mark out the new garden to another part of the yard and traced out yet another garden (I know – insatiable). She innocently asked if we had time to remove the sod from this area also. I pointed to the setting sun and severely depleted middle aged bodies as evidence that this three to four hour project would have to wait for another day.

FBR Fighting with her Spaghetti
I Have it on Good Authority Some of it Ended up in her Mouth

While I believe I have earned the right to complain about my wife’s unquenchable need for expanding gardens I will also admit that each and every time the results are worth the effort. She has a real knack for turning a formerly non-descript yard into something remarkable (as long as it is not too cold out). As we sat down for very creaky late evening dinner I realized we’d missed out on our nightly call to the FBR. It turns out she was decisively engaged herself with a battle against spaghetti which looked to have been epic.

Summer Pony Tail

It’s been a “fun” week which I forgot to mention involved a two hour dentist appointment to get fitted for a crown. I was “cursed” with an extremely attractive dental assistant which meant I refused to complain about any discomfort in fear of losing macho points. I’ve now got a temporary crown while awaiting the creation of the permanent one. I love it when they ask how the temporary crown feels when the entire side of your mouth is thankfully deadened by Novocain. Once that wore off it now feels like I’ve got a piece of popcorn lodged in there all the time and my tongue is getting a big workout.

She's Growing so Fast

Speaking of medical procedures my thoughts and prayers are with my big sis today down in Rhode Island. Great Aunt is trading in her last remaining original knee for a new one today. As I was writing this I heard from Soxfather that the operation was a complete success and she was already in the recovery room. My wife commented that as soon as she completes her rehab Great Aunt would once again be available to go out dancing with us. I’m sure this sent Soxfather scrambling in search of some sort of debilitating condition of his own to counter with. I’m excited for the long weekend because I’ll be back up in New Hampshire building walls with my Favorite Son. We’re then heading even further north into Maine for the Maine Musquetera’s daughter’s graduation party. I’m cringing as I write this just thinking about I-95 on a holiday weekend.