Oh my dears…
What a week it has been. Yes, I have a lot to do every single day as we all do but this time of year is crazy busy getting things in in the garden. By yesterday the last 11 roses had come and I had been soaking them for two days. Today I planted two and I would have planted more but there were a number of plants that needed to be potted up. 9 agastache (an incredible clearance deal with the last of my birthday money, they are fantastic pollinator plants, the butterflies, bees and hummingbirds love them), a big perennial hibiscus tuber which had come as a gift, and I got 2 roses potted. A very small rose and a rose for Rachel’s garden. A blessing in that the company mistakenly sent me 2 of one of the roses I had ordered. I called and asked them what I should do and they told me to just keep it so this is the year I am beginning to teach my daughter how to grow roses. The rose is a hybrid tea called ‘Voluptuous’ and it is voluptuous indeed. Almost a magenta, very full, very free blooming, and extremely fragrant.
Rachel and I are both growing it this year!
I am so excited to be teaching Rachel about gardening. While I had gardened off and on, a little here and a little there, most of my life and always had lots of plants in the house I didn’t start gardening seriously and on a large scale until I was 40. Rachel will be 40 in December, she is a psychologist who works with children with autism and their families, she does incredible work and there is, understandably, a lot of stress with the job. I think gardening will be good for her. This year she starts with this first rose. Mind she has grown a few veggies and herbs but this is her first foray into roses.
She was supposed to come this afternoon to pick up the rose which I had soaked and potted but not watered so she could get it home and water it and not make a mess in her car, and I have rose food for her and everything she needs to get going, but she had a lot of bigwigs from elsewhere in the state in for meetings today and it ran late and she had to make a 7 p.m. soccer game for my grandson so she is coming to get the rose and all the accoutrements tomorrow.
This morning I had my alarm set for 7 but woke up at 6:50 so got up, jumped in the shower and got dressed, walked Molly and got the birds up, and then Molly and I headed out. I have to have her at the vet for her “Spa Day” between 7:30 and 8:00. We were there just after 7:30 and the vet being about 2 minutes from my house I was home by about 7:45. I made grey parrot Lucky his peanut butter toast which he loves in the morning (just a little square of toast), and made my coffee and sat at my desk kind of in that place where, when you’ve gotten up much earlier than you usually do you are sort of up but your body is not really working. I answered email and comments on the blog and dealt with bills and household business and by 10:30 they called and said Molly was ready and I could pick her up.
The thing is I absolutely adore my vets (there are 3 women vets in the practice) and several vet techs who are just wonderful and loving and the vet techs do the bath/nails/ears (which I call her spa day! While I could easily bathe her at home I need to take her to the vet to have her nails done. That would be $15. For $20 they do the nails, the bath, clean her ears and look her over. Kind of an insurance policy because they could see things I might miss. Worth every penny.) And the thing is it is SO cute because they ADORE Molly. They adored my pugs and were wonderful with them too but there is something so magical about Molly, you’d have to meet her to understand. I come to get her and she is NOT in the back waiting in one of the roomy, comfy dog pens, someone is carrying Molly around, or one of the girls upfront has Molly in her lap. She is just a magical wee girl and they love her.
I got Molly home, walked her, gave her treats, and she snuggled into my lap. I was determined to paint but the phone KEPT RINGING and it was important things like the insurance company working with me to get the people back out here who rebuilt the house because it looks like in one area there may be a wiring issue. My house BURNED DOWN because of a different sort of wiring issue so I haven’t been using the light for weeks while waiting to get the issue resolved and it’s the main ceiling light/fan here in the Cozy Room where Molly and I spend our evenings and sleep and IT’S DARK IN HERE! I have a lamp next to this chair but that’s it. Finally next week it looks like an electrician will be here to resolve the issue.
By 6 I found out Rachel couldn’t make it tonight so I walked Molly, gave Lucky the grey parrot his evening meal, and made our dinner. Once a week I do a big cooking that will last for several nights and I did that tonight. I cleaned up the kitchen, got the dishwasher going, did laundry and then it was 8:30 and I thought, “Yegods I have to do the blog post!” So here it is!
I will plant the last of the roses over the weekend, half Saturday and half Sunday so I can catch up with painting. Rachel will be here tomorrow to get her rose and I have to repot my orchids. All 3 were gifts last year and they are in desperate need of repotting but most of the pots that are big enough for them were too expensive for me. I finally found some really pretty ones that were inexpensive because they are plastic but don’t LOOK plastic so the orchids and I will both heave a sigh of relief as I get them repotted. I have really worried about it.
This is my life. The days are really full, and full of gifts, and roses, and birds, and a wee dog, and my darling Rachel, and my sweet eldest daughter Jenny who lives in Chicago called tonight and we had a wonderful talk. And now here is the blog post and Molly and I are snuggled up in the chair here about to watch a movie.
I am blowing you a kiss from here and sending you a gentle hug. I hope you have a wonderful weekend. I’ll see you again on Monday and hopefully the painting will be finished. Take care my loves… take care.
Blowing you a rosey kiss And sending a cosmic treat to Molly bean.
Glad the parrot is settling into your loving home.
Thank you so much sweet Gail. And I love that you call her Molly bean, that’s adorable and a perfect description. My wee bean is asleep in my lap right now as I sip my coffee and answer you dear ones who left comments. And yes Lucky and I are fast friends. He loves for me to rub his head. One day we’ll be kissing! 🙂
Have a wonderful weekend Gail!
that voluptuous rose, wow!! indeed, i could inhale it right from the blog, seriously! gorgeous color, seductive, as befitting its name.
i have just recently purchased two more roses for my garden, so you and i are in sync once again. i don’t know much about growing roses, but i water them and love them and so far so good.
your schedule is SO FULL. one can hardly think of you as a shut-in, honey. you are busy, productive, taking care of so many critters, trying to get in painting devotion time, and writing this blog, on top of all the garden and cooking tasks.
i will miss your blog over the weekend sweetie.
xo
ka
Ah Katya yes it is very voluptuous indeed! I’m so excited to be sharing rose growing with Rachel and I’m SO EXCITED that you got more roses! Any time you’d like to talk roses let me know! And next year when my roses mature I want to start taking cuttings and rooting them. I love the old-fashioned southern practice of “passalong plants,” people sharing things from their gardens. And that is my favorite gardening book bar none, “Passalong Plants” by Steve Bender and Felder Rushing. It’s a hoot, a fun read, with lots of good information! It’s probably 20 years old now and you can get cheap copies on amazon. It’s right here beside me now.
And yes, it is a full life and a happy one. I am incredibly blessed and deeply grateful. And I love that you love my blog. That means so much to me…
Love you sister,
M. xoxox
Dear Maitri!
I have never seen a rose like “voluptuous”! Even in a picture it simply vibrates with color energy & life! I so love how you share your life with us in this blog!! Your days are full of so many simple pleasures & it seems that you are very mindful of them. A good lesson for me, when my anxiety threatens to overwhelm me. Focus on the simple pleasures of everyday life.
Enjoy your weekend & especially your precious time with Miss Molly!
Hello Dear Susan,
Yes, this rose is just stunning. In the fall when all of the roses and garden are blooming I’ll try to do a little video tour! And yes my days are very full of homespun things and there is little time to be depressed now what with the animals and my art and the garden which is proceeding apace. Very little is blooming yet but neighbors are already stopping to talk to me about it when I am out walking Molly. No one around here much gardens like I do anymore and people are just enchanted. I love that and it’s fun to talk to people. I have always gardened in the back where no one could see it but my back isn’t all fixed yet from the hurricane so I started in pots this year, some of which will be moved to the back and planted in the ground by fall I hope, some of the roses will be planted in the ground in the front. It’s an adventure! And Miss Molly is asleep here in my lap as I write. She is such a joy! I hope you are well honey, I am sending love…
The May 2019 issue of Southern Living has a very interesting article on “The Great Rose Rescue.”. The group calls itself Texas Rose Rustlers and they’re a group of folks who determined to save antique roses in odd locations. All that to say it reminded me of other rose saviours I know of. And of course, I think of you when I see roses. You are a very giving lady, Maitri, for the living. What a joy for me and others, I feel!
OH MARGE!! I wish I could get a copy of that magazine, I actually usually subscribe but I let it run out. I’m sure the May issue isn’t on the newsstands any longer but I have to go to the grocery store today so I’ll check! You see I have long known about the Texas Rose Rustlers and have bought many a rose over the years from the Antique Rose Emporium in Texas who is involved with that group. And there’s a book all about it which I love, “In Search Of Lost Roses” by Thomas Christopher. It’s all about this! I recently ordered an inexpensive used copy on amazon because I lost my copy in the fire. You might enjoy it if you love roses. It’s such a wonderful story.
https://smile.amazon.com/Search-Lost-Roses-Thomas-Christopher/dp/0226105962
And thank you for your kind words dear Marge. I’m sending you a great big hug from Dragonfly Cottage…
You let me know if you were able to read the article. You might be able to get the article from the library for free!
Ah Marge well I checked at the grocery store and they were out of it and it’s just too hard for me to go to the library. I would have enjoyed reading it but I’ve read books and articles about them through the years, they are just a delight. Thanks for thinking of me though…
I had to laugh when you said “… and sat at my desk kind of in that place where, when you’ve gotten up much earlier than you usually do you are sort of up but your body is not really working.” I know that feeling! What beautiful roses, it’s lovely to see you so immersed in your garden again. I learn such a lot when you tell us about your flowers. Have a wonderful weekend, much love to you and Molly. xxx
Ha ha ha Jenny you made ME laugh when you quoted what I said. I know we all have those times and ugh, the older you get the harder it gets to get up and moving early, but of course I’d do anything for my wee Molly. And oh yes, I can’t wait to share with you all as the garden grows. I may do a video this weekend after I get the last of the roses planted but it is such an early garden, things are just now starting to bloom here and there but in a month or so everything will be growing like topsy!
I hope you have a beautiful weekend Jenny honey. I’m sending much love your way… 🙂