Not quite what I expected

Sorry for my absence. A dear friend passed away from melanoma (get those moles checked!) and I came down with a bug of some sort (Covid test was negative). So besides recovering from surgery, I am also recovering from illness. At least I was able to abandon the brace this past week. While I can't do much yet, my shoulder is loosening up.

I received a first draft of the yard design. Even though I told the designer to treat the yard as a blank slate (except for the trees), I initially was not comfortable with the design. There are a lot of plants I am unfamiliar with (mostly ground covers), so had to research those a bit. Now I feel mostly okay about the front yard (except for the placement of a white oak where I don't think there is room), but the backyard looks like a lot of work to maintain. Also, I was hoping for more shrubs and vines in the back. We'll have a chance to sit down and discuss my misgivings, then he'll do a final draft.

There are a few new houseplants inside now. I purchased some cacti for a coiled pot and my son and his girl friend sent me a planter of plants for my birthday. I had to repot the latter, as the container they came in was not very practical. Also, providing the names of plants seems to have become a thing of the past, so I can't tell you what any of these are.


Speaking of plant names, I could not find the name of the arborvitae in the backyard. Apparently, I never entered it into my blog. Fortunately, I found it in an old spreadsheet. Just for the record, it is Thuja occidentalis 'Techny'.

Mud season

We received another 2" of rain this past week. Where there isn't standing water, the lawn looks like the proverbial hayfield. Currently, I am at the mercy of others, so could not mow midweek; tomorrow my SO will take on that task, hopefully for the last time this season?

One good thing about all this rain is I have not had to water recent transplants. We installed the 'Claire Grace' monarda along the south side of the house and the 'F21 Jackmanii' clematis into a container. The yellow mums I wintered over from last year bloomed well, but look like they could have used some judicious pruning.

Regarding my shoulder, this past week the staples were removed from the incision. I have to wear the brace for at least two more weeks, then two weeks after that I start physical therapy. My goal is to be ready to garden next spring.

August-like AGAIN

We had some cooler temps for a while, but it is back to the 80's again, plus over 4" of rain this past week. It feels like a jungle out there. Mushrooms are appearing in the grass.

Shoulder replacement is much different than hip replacement. With the latter, you start feeling better on day one, while the former feels like a giant step backwards. With hip replacement, you start physical therapy right away; with shoulder surgery, you have to bide your time for 4-6 weeks before starting any exercises. If I were more energetic, I might be bored.

So far, so good

Just a quick note to say that the shoulder replacement surgery went well. I'm home and sometimes feel almost normal. For example, this morning I supervised my SO while he mowed. He used to drive a fork truck for a living, so he caught on to the zero-turn mower fairly quickly. But he mowed r e a l l y slowly. Then I slept the afternoon away.

The dogs are at the kennel for a few more days, the cats take turns sleeping in my lap, my SO and daughter help with the stuff I can't do one-handed. So all is well.