I planted this small potted rosemary plant when we first moved here. It's grown into a monster that oils anything that brushes by it, which is everyone and everything as we enter the house. It's in a bad spot. From time to time, I hack it back. Today was the day.
Before.
After.
I actually left more than I have in the past. It will recover. This was fun; Julian helped me put all the cuttings in the yard bin, which he completely filled. He really was a help, not to mention being really good company.
I knew Betsy and her bunch would be at our favorite nearby park, so I took Julian and Katrina and stopped by. Julian and Andrew had a great time playing and chasing each other.
They found some tennis balls (Andrew had one and Julian found one, something like that), and fortunately were in a great place to throw them, as this park has lots of open field area. A young teenage boy got involved with them and played with them for quite a while, catching the tennis balls in his hat. I chatted with Betsy while the boys were completely absorbed in ball play.
Julian puts his whole body into throwing, it's pretty funny. Betsy said, "He has an arm!"
Hmmmm, maybe I should look into baseball for him....he's pretty good at batting too. (Where "pretty good" in this non-sporting household means "better than Gabriel.")
Meantime, Katrina played on the play structures, even climbing up a little.
After home, lunch, nap, it was back to more outdoor work. Katrina joined after her nap, with her hair in a hilarious swept-up do, a leftover from a quick ponytail I stuck in so I could give her a quick rinse-off bath before nap without getting her hair wet. I've mentioned our landscaping is really bad, but it's not just ugly -- it's very very dusty and the kids get filthy in minutes. This is really a problem!
I also hacked back my rose bushes, with Julian's help, then Dave let him water the few remaining stalks (which I also know from past experience will grow back), with Katrina's "help."
And where was Gabriel in all this? Sick as a dog, poor thing. He was getting a cold last night, but today it turned into a full-blown cough and fever. I really wish that normal, peaceful, unstressful days around here could be had when one of the boys isn't out of commission. What a difference. Gabriel's lethargy meant a lot of good time with Julian today for me. Isn't there a way to do that without one of them being laid out flat on the couch sick all day?
(I can't believe it, he still sleeps with his right eye slightly open, he's been doing that since he was a baby.)
I like working outside, but it's a little discouraging just how much there is to do, and how very many different places around our oddly contoured lot need attention. And all our work is just that -- work. Yardwork, landscaping, getting rid of overgrown things, trying to stay just barely ahead of Mother Nature. No actual gardening. Still, I think it's time to plant a new rosemary bush.
6/20/09
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