Itinerant Muse

Spring has finally sprung!

We've gone from wellies and slickers to flip flops and shorts in just a matter of a few days.  Hopefully the cold is behind us now, as I have started to plant my deck garden ~ lots of beautiful pansies and almost 50 hot salmon pink impatiens (ShopRite had a sale on a flat for $4.99).  Couldn't resist the bargain except usually a flat is only about 24 plants.  This was double that and I was running out of pots.  Also planted one pot of basil ~ still fearful of frost until the bewitching day, May 15, when supposedly it is safe to leave plants outside.

Want to buy the book Gardening Anywhere ~ it is reviewed as one of the best books for gardening in small places.  ("Garden Anywhere shows how anyone can create an oasis in the smallest of spaces. We're not talking just a simple pot of marigolds, here. Garden Anywhere outlines everything an aspiring gardener needs to know to sow a bounteous, thriving garden.") by Alys Fowler  She is a presenter on the BBC tv show Garden's World and has a wonderful gardening blog.

It's really a chilly spring night ~ too dusky and cold to take pics on the deck.  Will have up tomorrow.  Time for a nice sip of Chardonnay!

Here's the early beginnings of my deck garden...............Salud!

 

Driving Miss Daisy

    My happy girl here, Daisy, is not so happy these days ~ and one of the many reasons I haven't written for a while.  You can see here her bulging left eye ~ that's glaucoma and she lost her vision in that eye quite some time ago.  Didn't bother her much as you can see from the smile on her face, but last week  she lost the vision in her good eye and is blind and totally disoriented.

Normally, I write about happy, fun, good things ~ food, wine, lifestyle, etc.  But I have been really grieving for my beloved Daisy who will be 12 in September.  She has always been so fiesty, loving, obedient, the perfect pup ~ always doting on her brother, Popper,

who is much bigger than she, but totally defers to her.  Now I am trying to have him guide her, although he is totally confused as to why she bumps into him, won't move out of the kitchen doorway when he wants in to drink some water.  Here he is trying on my son's flip flops.

And, I find myself trying to retrain her to find her way ~ we live in a second floor condo, so getting down stairs when you can't see them is very traumatic for her ~ so I am trying to teach her the word 'step' so that will alert her to know to step down.  Guiding her to food and water is another big challenge.  As advised by my vet, I am trying to guide her by sense of smell with food in my hand.  She loves to eat and when I am cooking and doing prep work chopping veggies, etc. she is always right at my feet, because she knows eventually some yummy morsel will land on the floor.  Not any more until she finds the way to my feet or smells the food.

Here they are anxiously awaiting dinner on their 11th birthday when I made them turkeyburgers.  Oh boy, did they love that meal!

Sometimes for their amusement, I read to them "The Daily Wag" written by Martha Stewart's two dogs, Francesca and Sharkey.

Another pastime Daisy loves is riding in the car, looking out the window and barking at anything that moves while the wind blows through her fur.  Well, I will always be driving Miss Daisy ~ she will still feel the wind, smell the fresh flowers and  ocean breezes, and hopefully this will be enough along with my constant love and caressing of her and Popper's companionship to keep her happy for a long time to come.                            

Popper and Daisy after  going to the beauty parlor.