Kitty

Kit is going home today and we are really, REALLY, going to miss her here. There is nothing more fun than having a puppy around. All the dogs are more interested and energetic because she has reinvigorated them.

She follows me around everywhere, comes when called, loves to explore everything, is afraid of nothing, has a healthy appetite, and, just plainly, has been a delight and a joy to us.

Carolyn and David are coming next week to stay a while and I'm looking forward to having them. David helped me move - last year! It seems like much longer that I've been here so much has happened. Most importantly perhaps, I've adapted to the pace of life here and I love it.

Here are some photos from this morning. Clicking on photos will enlarge them.

I planted three Clematis Jackmanii on specially constructed trellises in the fall before my house was finished. This is only their second year and they are doing very well. This one has a volunteer annual poppy growing with it. Bear (right) approves of the combination.

Volunteers are plants that seed themselves in your garden without your help. Back in my Royal Oak garden I had a "bush" Clematis which I did not bring up because, I assume, they cannot be divided. The blue flower in the middle of the photo is a volunteer Clematis that must have hitchhiked up here when I transplanted something else - perhaps a Pulmonaria. I love greeting old friends.

Prunella is a wildflower that has recently, perhaps, emerged in a more cultivated form in blue, pink, or white and can be found in garden centers and plant nurseries now. The above plant is truly a wild plant but I love it regardless.

These two volunteer "weeds" are wild yarrow. Yarrow stalks are sometimes used for I Ching.  They also can be found in nurseries in more cultivated forms but I like the wild ones better - they are, in my opinion, hardier and easier to grow.