4/17/11 - 4/18/11

4/17/11
Everyone's up early and out for the last day of this weekend's retreat. A woman named Mary Ann Williamson was the speaker at the retreat, a popular woman who's written a couple of self-help kinda books. Oprah loves her. http://www.marianne.com/ This retreat's focus was on eating, overeating, healthy food values... weight loss I guess. I was busy & did not participate.
The people attending are not the usual guests I'm told. Not necessarily very 'spiritual' in the way this place provides. Lots of them had tried yoga for the first time and were weary and even aggressively fearful of an all vegetarian menu. Jr. says Mary Ann and her philosophy were received with astounding revelation. People dropped C notes at the gift shop. Some of those purchases being gifts of jewelry for Mary Ann. A thanks for saving their lives in sort. For opening their eyes to life changing choices. The sun is out! Better work while I can!



4/18/11
During the last retreat a woman came from the city to help out at the retreat and stayed on our extra bed in the common area. She brought her sweet 6 year old fatty dog Chloe. She was some kind of French Spaniel. Never seen at fat one before. I love her! She's one of those middle aged companion dogs, who'd rather be with you than run off somewhere and get into trouble. She hung out with me in the garden for most of the day. She loves me! I brought a bag of cheese with me just in case she thought to wander off and find her mom. But she was content just chillin'.. and eating cheese while I raked. What I like to call finding the ground; removing all of last year's leaves and debris to find some definition between the beds. Raking the dead grass out of the lawn pathways, fluffin' it up. There are more weeds that I thought below all of last fall's mulch and as spring continues, rain-sun-rain, they will continue to polka dot the beds.
Good thing I cleaned my garden shack (kinda resembles an old shit house, except double-wide, like a handicap porta-potty made out of wood). I found basically all the tools I needed, specifically happy about finding the Hula-Ho. A fantastic tool for popping up small weeds.
http://www.practicalenvironmentalist.com/gardening/product-review-the-hula-ho-weeding-tool.htmAfterwards I went to the hardware store to pick up some more seed starting stuff and threw in another bag of oriental lilies. The bulbs are puny, especially when I remember the softball size bulbs I used to have... wah. But these little bulbs were sprouting in the bag, tortured to live in dry and mildew-smelling sawdust... and they're my favorite. Also happens to be that just last night a coworker asked what kind of cut flowers were going to be in the garden and requested something scenty. Lilies are the best air freshener for a bathroom with no ventilation.