I must categorically deny that I had anything to do with this.

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Just because mama has
the fixings ready
for cherry chocolate pancakes
is no reason to wake
a six-year-old
on her birthday.

(sometimes I need to give myself little reminders.)

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Neighbors walking by
smile more when I'm hauling mulch,
weeding dandelions.

(haiku for the word that should exist that defines your pleasure in your neighbor's grubby and inglorious labor)

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My parents sent Kavi some clothes for her birthday (tomorrow! six!), and she was so excited that she not only a) laid her outfit for today out on the floor last night, but b) forbade me from entering her room, because she wanted it to be a SURPRISE. She was very serious about it. :-)

And speaking of birthdays, here's my present for her. I'm guessing she won't appreciate the fact that I managed to find a watercolor dress to go with the new watercolors, but I was pretty pleased. I'll try to point it out to her, and maybe we can try to copy some of the flowers together. :-) (Dress from Old Navy, watercolors and pad from Target, which has a new line of surprisingly nice kid art supplies.)

Now I'm thinking I have to make some watercolor paper to wrap it in. :-)

3:00 update: Okay, fifteen minutes with watercolor pencils and watercolors = watercolor paper featuring Kavi's name and favorite flower. The paper is kind of crumply, since the only paper I had large enough was pretty thin, but she will not care. I expect glee. :-)

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To do list, mostly garden:

• figure out if Kavi already has sneakers that fit her growing feet -- DONE (and the answer is no, sigh; new sneakers ordered, two months after the last pair)
• get pull-ups, salad, shrimp, mulch for roses -- DONE
• mulch roses -- DONE
• plant creeping thyme between the stepping stones (should flower later in the summer) -- DONE
• plant morning glory, moonflower (after 11 a.m.) -- DONE
• weed dandelions in hellstrip -- DONE
• plant glads in front -- DONE
• 11:30 - 12:30 -- meet Michele @ gym -- DONE

• sort seasonal clothes
• deal with a hundred e-mail messages

Sat:

• buy birthday present for Alice
• get juice, cupcakes, goody bags for Kavi's party
• pick up balloons and cups for Kavi's party
• buy groceries for Kavi's party

• finish fixing watering system
• reseed bare spots in grass in front
• fertilize roses
• water front lawn

• mow back lawn
• reseed bare spots in grass in back
• plant dahlias and glads in back
• dump and replace hanging basket liners
• plant herbs and tomatoes and peppers and salad mix

Sun:

• make chocolate mushrooms
• assemble cake
• decorate!
• Next week:
  • finish knitting Anand sweater
  • clear out vegetable garden detritus
  • plant other veggies: corn, squash, green beans -- what else??

  June:
  • buy more mulch (about ten bags) and finish mulching front yard
  • buy and plant about 24 more plugs of creeping thyme along path
  • buy and install three trellises in back (honeysuckles and wisteria)
  • buy & plant old-fashioned bleeding heart (3) in hellstrip
  • buy & plant 2-3 hollyhocks in back of border, ditto foxglove

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