Frank and Zappa's Garden

I really need to do some stuff.

Weather seems be taking a turn for the better. We’ve actually had some sun! We’ve used the barbecue! Now I just need to get out and do some stuff.

I did get out on Thursday evening and put the herbs I got from the garden center in planters.

Saturday

Today was beautiful and sunny. It was also Pokemon Go Community Day for June, so my afternoon was occupied. I was awake early this morning, for some reason. So I took advantage, and made another garden center run for potting soil and a couple of new planters.

Came home, unloaded car, had lunch (BBQ Sausage with saurkraut and leftover roasted veggies from Friday night), then t was pretty much time to go again. We were out all  afternoon catching Slakoth, and then met friends for dinner. It was a full and enjoyable day, but we arrived home after dinner and I felt like I’d hardly been home all day.

I had my daily drawing/art work to do (the prompt was something rainbow-ish, so I ended up trying out a watercolor tutorial) so I got started on that, but Isabelle figured I should go out and play with her. So I threw a stick for her to chase, until she got tired of that, and then brought out my camera to take some photos. I neglect my camera these days, because it’s so easy to just grab my phone, but it’s nice to pull out the real camera.

Sunday

Isabelle woke me up early, so I went out and put in the cat door. She’s looking to go out earlier and earlier these days, so I’m often letting her out between 5 and  6am. Not sure what time it was this morning, but when I woke up around 8 am, she was snuggled up in bed with me, tucked up against my side and having a good snooze.

After coffee, around 9-ish, I decided I was ready to go out myself. It was sunny, and hot already, about time.

I got no yard clean up done last fall. I knew I would regret it, but I just could not make it happen. So there’s lots out there to do. I started with getting some peas and beans planted. I grew them last year on the deck, and down along the fence. I’m pretty sure I have one already growing, having seeded itself in one of last years tomato pots, and they are one of the early producers, so I figured I might as well get those going; most of my tomatoes – usually my first concern – are not ready to go out anyway.

Next thing I know, Cory was tapping me on the shoulder and asking about lunch. Time flies in the garden.

After lunch, we did our shopping for the week and came home. By that time I was completely worn out. I had hoped to get back out and do a bit more, but I was done in by that point.

New month, new daily drawing challenge; this one is summer themed. Having fun with it so far, and finding some really good tutorials to help me draw things and learn stuff. 

Makes for busy days though, trying to fit everything in. Doing the best I can do.

It’s been a beautiful, hot summer – record breaking in fact. I think the past week or so has seen the highest temperatures and humidity. In other words, perfect tomato growing weather. We finally got some rain though; it was pouring down when I woke up this morning, much to Isabelle’s disappointment.

After work, Isabelle and I had to go out and check on things, just to make sure all the tomato plants survived. Right? 🙂

All was looking good in my little Tomato Alley behind the house.

These are mostly Indigo Rose and Sweet 100 Cherry tomatoes, except for 3 pots that are New Big Dwarf.

I stop to admire the Indigo Rose tomatoes practically every time I go out.  Looking forward to seeing what these look like ripe.

Then around to the side yard, where the rest of my Tomato Jungle is growing.

The wooden planter is more of the Indigo Rose; They are vine-y tomatoes, a very attractive looking plant.

In the middle we have Beaverlodge Slicer tomatoes, which are just loaded with fruit.

And on the end, Princepe Borghese, really bushy, green plants.

And finally the New Big Dwarf. I actually have a couple more containers of these by the gate. They are in the Patio Tomato category, and had the longest growing time, so they were the first ones I transplanted.

So far it has been a fantastic growing season, so feeling hopeful for lots of beautiful tomatoes this year!

A Year Ago Today

Oct 31st of 2016 we lost Zappa. I felt like I wanted to write a post in Zappa’s memory, as I did for Frank, but somehow I could never quite do it. 

This post was sitting in my drafts, the last edit date was Dec. 30, 2016. I tried to read it, but I go all tear-y eyed and sad, and I had to stop. So it will have to stay however I left it 10 months ago.

So it’s been a year. I’m not completely broken, but maybe not 100% healed. I adore my Isabelle, but I confess I have been missing my Zappa hugs lately.

December 30, 2016

I’ve been trying to write this post for a while, but it seems the words don’t want to come.

Frank and Zappa came to us just a couple of months after we moved into our new house in May/June 2002, which was only a short time after our wedding on December 31, 2001. They were with us for 14 years, almost all of my memories of being in this house include them.

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Zappa was the first to sleep on my head, though that later became Frank’s thing. I woke up one morning to find Zappa sleeping on my pillow, basically wrapped around my head: front paws down one side of my head, back paws down the other side, body across the top. In the beginning, they could both manage to cuddle up to my head – and each other – but eventually Frank got the pillow, and Zappa would just sleep on top of me – chest, stomach, legs – whatever struck him as the comfy spot of the moment I guess. More than one morning I woke to Cory telling me how amused he had been during the night, seeing Zappa poke and paw at me until I rolled over onto my back so he could claim his spot.

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Zappa was usually the harder one to take photos of. As soon as he knew you were paying attention to him, he would come running.

Zappa was my lap cat. I used to call Frank my Problem Child, and Cory called Zappa our “happy, well-adjusted cat.” I called him the Treat Monster; loved his cat treats, that cat did.

That’s what I was doing, in those last moments; I was getting ready to go to the store and buy some cat treats because we were going leaving the next morning for 5 days, and I’d realized we were out of cat treats. Can’t go off and leave the cat sitters with no treats for Zappa.

We’d had a good day. Zappa woke me up first thing for his treats and breakfast. We were on our first day of vacation. Zappa had his breakfast, his morning nap, he went outside, he came in for cuddles – a day in the life. I carried him around on my shoulder, which was one of his favorite things; he loved to be picked up and held. I sat on the love seat with him for more cuddles, and when he’d had enough from me, jumped down, ran across the room and jumped up on Cory’s chair for cuddles from his other human. And I thought: what will I do when I don’t have him anymore?

The vet had given him a thorough checkup after we lost Frank. He was on medication for his thyroid, and it seemed like he was doing well.

I had just bought a new pet fountain, because a piece broke off the old one. It was still running, but I thought I should get a replacement before it gave out. I hadn’t even set it up yet, but Zappa was happy to check out the box.

I worried about going away and leaving him alone for 5 days, but I always did worry and our cat sitters were excellent.

It’s so hard to say good-bye.