When is Now?

I used to have a calendar similar to the oe Martha Stewart used to publish in her magazine. I misplaced it in moving in with Mr Bear. Subsequently, a lot of things went undone this year. I'm not sure when I usually plant Mums. I think I wait another 2 weeks, but I'm not sure.

What makes this more confusing is that the climate here (a 1/2 mile from the river and bay) is different from where I used to live. The moisture makes me certain that I will see frost sooner than I would at my apartment.

I just started getting Martha Stewart Living again (partially in the hopes of recreating my calendar from hers over the next year). She doesn't do the calendar anymore - just a page of "Gentle Reminders". That sort of annoys me because I'm pretty sure that it's the product of a customer opinion survey with readers who felt they couldn't keep her schedule. UGH.

My calendar had MORE on it than hers. I never thought of her having a summer house making my life look better. It was always another set of gutters I didn't have to clean that she did.

So, I guess I'm on my own for a calendar.

I want to finish planting the bed around the patio and the deck with the perrenials this year. So, it's sort of a high priority for me with that window soon to close. This is the best time to plant shrubs, which is 3/4 of what i need to put in and I've been waiting for it to cool off a bit. the trick now is to not be persuaded by the "we can do it later" argument that I've been heeding all year.

Home making is a lot of work but something I enjoy and actually feel I'm pretty decent at. I run into to trouble when I let folks convince me that it doens't all need to get done, or right now. these are the same folks who then wonder why we didn't decorate as much for the holiday or didn't bring somehting home made to the dinner party. It's also the same folks who aren't good home makers. I don't fault people who aren't domestic - it's something you have and develop or soemthing you don't. It's not big on everyone's list.

Mr Bear and I talked about why I'm so into it and I think it's because our house was such a wreck when I was a kid. Both my parents worked and they fought when they were together. The 4 of us kids were pretty much left to take care of each other. This isn't a poor me story - my parents loved us and did the best they could. They just got overwhelmed with trying to pay the bills and how miserable they were together.

My Dad was/is killer at renovation stuff and my Mom made us the best halloween costumes every year. We would win the town prizes in every age group! it was a little unfair to the one or two kid families whose Moms weren't as crafty. i guess my point is that my parents were raised in the time when home making was thought ot be a passes role for women and men didn't deem it very important. I'm glad to see we've moved toward valuing it in society.

OK, enough babbling. I'm going to go cuddle up with Mr Bear for a bit before I start the rest of my day.

Things I Am Grateful For
Having enough
Cookie Cutters
The way the dogs do the "gotta pee" tap dance in the morning
The weather today - it's glorious
Mr Bear's cute sleepy face
Chocolate Underground yogurt

Things I Want Today
To know when to plant my Mums
To find cheap boxwoods
To pick out and order bulbs for the spring
A massage
To get a few hours on the nude beach this weekend