A lot of work and a bit of good news�

2003-12-09

I've been rushing to pull out as much of the groundcover as I can today. Rain is predicted for Wednesday , Thursday, and maybe Friday. Just as well, I suppose. I don't want the same amount as last week. I ended up with 6 trash bags and five trash cans full of the stuff I�d pulled up. With all the stuff we've thrown out of the house lately, I'm kind of surprised there's anything left.

On Saturday I prepped the soil, laid a small stone path, and planted in the cleared half of the yard. Three lavender plants, six jalape�o starts, chives, four strawberry plants, a flat of wooly thyme, a geranium, purple sage, alyssum and blue lobelia.

Almost all of them need �well drained soil.� Something that doesn�t really happen with clay soil. So I dug normal sized holes, usually twice the volume of the root ball, whatever that was. Then backfilled most of the hole with the a mixture of dirt and sand. When I had a shallow pit, I put the plant in and mounded soil and compost around it to cover the roots. Most of the plants ended up on small mounds. Instant drainage.

I put the strawberries in inconspicuous spots, behind other plants. I�d actually like to be able to eat those myself, rather than have the neighbor kids eat them. I have three more pony packs to plant. The jalape�os I planted in groups of three. I figure they�ll look more shrub-like in groups.

I dragged a friend out with me when I bought the plants. She noted that I seem to have a purple theme. I�m not trying to have a purple theme. I�d rather have a wider range of color, but it seems that purple is the color of California winters.

Talked to Dad this morning. He had his second treatment yesterday. His blood tests continue to show marked improvement. The levels of the bad protein in his blood are reducing rapidly. That means fewer active cancer cells. Yeehah! All the news since treatment began has been good.

The wonderful spouse and I went to see �Master and Commander� on Sunday. Way too high a gore level for me, and not a good enough story for me to want to watch it again.

�