Temperatures are already coming up and it almost seems warm. Working in Candace's garden I'd even taken my heavy shirt off. It felt good to have the sun on my back.
After Candace arrived at my place, we headed out to the garden supply store and mostly just shopped around. It's still early for things, but Candace wasn't looking for plants or seeds as much as she was looking through tools and whatever else she could find. I found a whole aisle of garden gnomes and pointed them out to her. I thought they were cute, Candace seemed more disturbed by them. We picked up some extra stuff for me to use, trowel, gloves, apron, things that would make it easier for us both to be working. Candace also placed an order for some pots and soil to be delivered.
I kept pointing out all the cute little fairy garden things, the furniture and stuff. Candace resisted buying those, but for some reason when I noticed the bird house kits, she thought that was a great idea and bought two of them for us to put together.
We also looked at patio furniture. Candace has a few chairs and table, but they look like they're made of rust and more of a health hazard than source of comfort. We picked out a set that Candace was happy with, a larger table that'll fit six chairs. Should be just enough for our group if we were all to set together. Candace requested they be delivered with her other order, and they said she'd probably receive it all next week. We asked them to call ahead and then when Sam showed up we let him know what was expected. That way he can be there to help move things around and if they show up on Wednesday or Thursday I can be there as well.
Hal did meet us for lunch, and we found a nearby Ethiopian restaurant to try. I don't think I've ever tried Ethiopian before, I certainly don't remember using sponge bread to eat the food rather than dinnerware. It was pretty tasty and I enjoyed it. Hal and Candace did too.
Hal gave us a ride back to Candace's before he needed to get to his lab. And then we spent the rest of the day putzing around in the garden. There wasn't a whole lot we could do yet, and I could tell Candace was anxious to see how the winter had treated what she'd already done. We did check on the buds hidden by leaves. They all looked good and there were many more sprouts to both our delight. There's still the chance of a late frost, so we kept them covered and protected. And then Candace went over with me the plans she had.
She's got flowers spread all throughout, some for color, others to distract harmful insects. She has mostly planted perennials, but she's left a lot of space for annuals that she'll plant once the stores have the seeds and sprouts. She wants to get a couple of tomato plants, and some radishes, squashes, she's got a whole section set aside for pumpkins and another smaller section for various herbs. She'll use the pots to create a raised garden for things that'll need a lot of attention. That way we won't be bent over the ground while we're caring for them. So next week she wants to make another trip for hardware supplies to build that. But that'll depend on when we get the order she already placed today.
I had thought she was only going to use the one section of the yard. But as she was going over her plans I realized she was going to turn the whole backyard into a garden. There'll be lawn space in the middle with a strip to get to the tree, and another strip leading to the front gate. But all along the fence and around will be plants. She wants the raised garden along the fence leading to the gate, and under that she wants to plant plants that don't like the sun as much. Mostly mushrooms, and they'll catch the water that drips down from the pots above.
Under the tree she wants to put a bench to sit on. And as we were looking her cat had already found a perch in the tree above. He looked like he was dozing, but he seemed to always have one ear perked to listen to us.
Sam showed up and Candace gave him the same tour she'd given me. He said he was expecting to be pretty busy with his commission, but he'd happily help out when he could. He actually admitted that working alone at his shop, he was having a hard time taking care of things like he'd wanted and lamented not having some helping hands himself.
It was a good day, and it felt good to be out in the backyard after spending the winter inside.
Tomorrow I'll be going back to work. It sounded like they kept the museum closed even on Wednesday, but it had reopened today. I just wonder what I'm going to find when I get there.
