Spring Brings New Hope

After his latest visit to the hospital, my dad is back in rehab and seems to be doing very well. I've had my hands full threatening all kinds of people. Since his fall in late February, we've walked out of the emergency room (after a two-hour wait with nobody even checking on us), almost walked out of a doctor's office (after being stuck in an exam room for an hour and being ignored), and have left one nursing home in disgust for another. Unbelievable the amount of misinformation and stupid people you find in the health industry! So, I've been waging war on the powers that be to get Grandpa decent treatment that actually helps him instead of causing him to take two or three GIANT steps backwards.

But - there is other stuff being done around my own house! Yes - I hope what I accomplished this afternoon will survive!!!

I planted three hostas, a bunch of Cosmos, Batchelor Buttons, Black-eyed Susans, Poppies, Sweet William, some Pinks, Blue Salvia, Forget-Me-Nots, Sparklers, etc. - all from seeds except the pinks and hostas. I planted in pots, half wine barrels, a cement planter, and the ground . . .

In past years, once the little plants dare poke their first baby leaves out of the ground, the backyard bunnies devour the tender shoots. Makes me want to do some shooting of my own!! At least when I planted the tulip bulbs in December, they were quickly buried under a pile of ice and snow. Typically, the squirrels find those, dig them up and eat them like candy. Between them and the bunnies, I think they've dubbed this yard "Blu's Buffet." But not THIS YEAR!! I had about 100 bulbs I'd gotten from in front of my office building last spring and planted those and they bloomed beautifully! Now if I can be only so lucky with the seeds!

I did manage to get one beautiful hanging pot full of New Zealand Impatiens - kind of pink and white stripes - that I put in the big pot on my front porch. They always seem to do so well there, why mess with perfection?

And, to cap off a glorious afternoon in the yard, I barbequed cubed pork cutlets, fixed some pasta al fredo, some corn, and had a wonderful piece of bread pudding from a well-known place here - Annie Gunn's. Bought it Friday at lunch, brought it home, stuck it in a pan, poured the rum sauce over it, and baked it for 20 minutes - absolutely devine!!

So, with the good thoughts of whoever still reads my blog . . . keep your fingers crossed . . . and I will be able to post pictures of lovely flowers this summer - instead of ugly, brown patches of dirt!