Thursday, April 27, 2006, 23:15
Eye-Spy
"Now what did I do with my glasses?" I muttered to myself.
Sometimes I put my glasses on right away when I get up in the morning and sometimes I do not. And I was pretty sure I had not put my glasses on first thing Wednesday morning.
But if I didn't put my glasses on, then where were they? Often I will take them off in the evening and put them on the ledge in front of the china cabinet doors, and that's where they will stay until I put them back on the next morning.
I was 99 percent certain that I had put my eye glasses on the china cabinet Tuesday night -- except that when I looked at the china cabinet, my glasses were not there.
"Did I put them on and then take them off and lay them down somewhere? Or did I leave them in the bathroom?" I said to our Shetland Sheepdog, Pixie.
I went into the bathroom. But my glasses were not in the little basket on the counter where I leave them if I take them off in the bathroom.
"Did I leave them in the bedroom?" I said.
Nope. No glasses on any of the three dressers in the bedroom.
"Maybe I left them in the office when I shut down the computer last night?" I said.
I didn't think that was likely because I had never done that before, but then again, you never know. . .
Nope. No glasses in the office.
Now, was it possible I had put my glasses on and then had taken them off and laid them down in the kitchen for some strange reason?
I went to the kitchen -- but no glasses.
"I was SURE I left them on the china cabinet!" I said to Pixie. "Am I losing my mind?"
I went back to the china cabinet.
No glasses.
I went to the bathroom, the bedroom, my office and the kitchen again.
Still no glasses.
"Where are my glasses?" I said. "I have to find them -- or I won't get very far today."
As if looking twice already were not enough, I made the rounds to the china cabinet, the bathroom, the bedroom, my office and the kitchen yet again.
Still no glasses.
"This is silly!" I said. "They have to be somewhere! And I was certain I left them on the china cabinet last night!"
What was it that was niggling at the back of my brain about the china cabinet?
I stopped right where I was and closed my eyes.
"Think!" I said.
Something about the china cabinet. . .something about the ledge. . .what was it?
Then it came to me.
At one point, Randy and I had found all of Sophie's rabbit fur mice and put them on the ledge on the china cabinet so we would know where to find them when Sophie wanted to play.
It had taken Sophie only a short while to figure out she could put her paws on the ledge, and if she stood on tip-toe and pushed her paw as high as she could, she would be able to snag the rabbit fur mice with one claw and pull them down. The idea of storing Sophie's rabbit fur mice on the china cabinet ledge had not worked out very well at all.
Yes, that was it.
Sophie was able to pull things down from the china cabinet ledge!
I went into the living room and looked on the floor in front of the china cabinet.
No glasses.
I looked on the floor in front of the buffet.
No glasses.
I looked by the ottoman.
No glasses.
I looked on the floor by the book case and. . .what was that?
Could it be?
Yesssss! It was my eyeglasses.
"Sophie!" I said. "You shouldn't be playing with my glasses!"
At the moment, Sophie was sitting on the bookcase, looking out the window. She didn't appear to care one way or the other whether I found my glasses.
From the time she was a tiny kitten and was first able to toddle around, Sophie has been playful. She can make a toy out of just about anything. Pens. Pencils. Markers. Pieces of dog food. Paper clips. Lady bugs. Moths fluttering in the window. Drops of water dripping from the faucet. Bits of paper that come from the paper cutter when I am making bookmarks or postcards. A cough drop still in the wrapper that Randy has taken out of his pocket and laid on the dresser. The cords on the Venetian blinds. Tea light candles she finds sitting on the buffet that I am intending to burn in the little clear glass candle holder shaped like a cat. Computer disks. Shoe laces. Pixie's tail. The other kitties' tails.
So I suppose I should not have been surprised that my eyeglasses would become Sophie toys, too.
All I can say is -- I'm glad I didn't step on them while I was looking for them!
LeAnn R. Ralph
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Wednesday, April 26, 2006, 21:03
Ladders and Lilacs
We covered the little lilac last night. The weather forecast said the temperature would get down to 29 degrees. It has been a few years since we've had nice lilacs, so Randy and I figured if we covered the little lilac, we would at least have a few flowers.
I always knew there was a reason for keeping that old, worn out stepladder around!
I would never dare climb up on the stepladder for any reason -- but it is extremely handy for covering small bushes. I use it in the fall to cover my mums so I'm sure the flowers don't freeze.
Last night, Randy set the stepladder over the lilac bush and then draped blankets on the stepladder.
The temperature overnight did not get down to 29 degrees. It was colder Monday night because Tuesday morning, there was ice in the horse pails. I didn't see a skim of ice on the pails this morning.
The other lilacs are much too big to cover. If I could find a way to cover the bigger lilacs, I might consider doing it. I suppose I would need one very large tarp -- and some way to keep it from blowing away.
I don't know why, but Randy and I both love lilacs. During a good lilac year, we can sit in the backyard on a May evening and soak up all of that lovely lilac scent. One year the lilacs were so fragrant, we could smell them down by the barn.
I am going to keep my fingers crossed that it does not freeze hard enough after this to freeze my lilac buds.
The original lilacs -- and they are just the old-fashioned, tough-as-nails light lavender lilacs, nothing special -- were planted on the farm where I grew up by my grandmother about 70 years ago.
Last year, we got a sprig of the dark purple lilacs from Randy's mom and dad to plant in our yard. I have come to the conclusion that the dark purple lilacs are not nearly as hardy as the light lavender. I faithfully watered the dark purple lilac throughout the summer because it was so dry that I knew if I did not water it, it would never survive.
The dark purple lilac only has a few sickly-looking leaves on it. If I had planted one of my old light lavender lilacs in that spot, it would have taken off and never looked back. So, I'm going to have to keep my fingers crossed for the dark purple lilac, plus give it as much tender loving care as I can. Those dark purple lilac flowers are breathtaking.
I am also happy to note that the peony which Isabelle stepped on when she got out during the March 13 snowstorm is sending up shoots. After the snow melted, I was dismayed to see that Isabelle had tromped all over the spot where I had transplanted some peonies last year. She left four-inch deep hoofprints on that soft part of the lawn, so of course, she shoved the peonies down deeper into the ground. I will have to wait and see if those peonies will bloom. If they don't, I will need to dig them and put them back so they are not buried so deep.
The other bit of gardening news for today is that the antique plum down by the barn has buds! I planted some of the plum pits from an antique plum growing on an old farmstead a half mile from here up the dirt road. I have no idea how old the plums are -- but they, too, are probably 70 or 80 years old. The plums off the old bush are sweet and delicious. I think they are some kind of prune plum.
A few years back, hunters rented the land up the road and must have thought the old plum tree was in the way. They trimmed it back, and the plum tree has been dying off slowly since then. That's one reason I'm so anxious that the plum tree by the barn will survive. If all of the conditions are favorable this year, we might get a plum or two from it. And wouldn't that be sweet. . .
LeAnn R. Ralph
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