Seed Catalogs

We recently had snow in Leesville. Some snow as in a little snow. The correct term would be a dusting of snow. The "most snow we have had in three years and we will call it snowing" snow. And in true South Carolina fashion it was gone by noon. It was still cold in the afternoon so after snapping a few pictures I was back inside where it was warm. With my cup of hot tea, toasted raisin bread and newly delivered seed catalogs I settled down in my favorite chair (with Bella Rose sleeping on the floor). Using my imagination, I thought this is how a real northerner does it. You know, the ones who look wistfully through seed catalogs with real snow outside four feet deep, and dream of springtime. The ones who write about it in newspaper articles and books.

So sipping my hot Irish tea I made my first list of what I want to plant this spring. I usually end up making about three lists total - winnowing down my wish list to seeds I could actually have a chance germinating and plants that would actually survive summer in South Carolina. Usually by the second time through all the larkspur, poppies, and columbines have been scratched out.

Color was the theme for this year. After my first go round I realized I chose white and pink flowering plants - except for the Heavenly Blue morning glories which are a standard for me. Tall flowering tobacco, datura, and 'Alba' black-eyed susan vine, pink balcony petunias and wild bergamot. I am also leaning toward castor bean plants (Zanzibarensis) for my containers. Something I have always known about myself is that I am a visual person. I would prefer to see something explained instead of verbal or written instructions. That is why seed catalogs work so well. Because I am not the only one out there who likes to look at pretty pictures and say "I can grow that." Give me a picture book any day.

Actually, now is the time to order and start seeds. I have a small greenhouse which I heat with a heat lamp and a propane heater (when temps drops below freezing). Last year I had minimal success with germinating seeds without any heat at all in the greenhouse so I am fully expecting better germination this year with heat! My most intense work season is the spring and in Leesville that is sometimes a very small window of time. Summer can come with full heat and humidity by mid-May or it may sensibly wait until June. Either way when it does get here about the only thing I do outside is water in the morning and sit very still in the evening.

Since we have had our "snow" for the year I am ready for warmer temperatures! I am looking forward to watching my little seedling grow, visit nurseries to buy more plants, and complain about my water bill.

Bella Rose

This is Bella Rose. She is 4 years old - or 28 in dog years. She is a Pembroke Welsh Corgi originally from Martinsville, Virginia. We got her and her brother, Everett when they were 2 months old.

Years back I discovered the wonderful world of Tasha Tudor - who always had one or more corgis around. I fell in love with the little elf dogs. Now we have two ourselves. Their short legs, foxy ears and loveable grin almost always makes me smile back. They believe without a doubt that when someone visits they came just to see them!

When we went to the breeder to pick out a corgi she had three pups left to chose from. Just like in a movie, when Bella and I made eye contact it was love at first sight. She waddled over to me and I picked up her. She said, "I want to go home with you." So I took her home.

Belle sleeps beside my bed on the floor. She makes sure the other dogs, Everett and Max don't come too close. Nipping and yipping if they invade her territory. She stays in the kitchen when I wash dishes in the evening, having to step over her when putting up dishes. She will work with you all day outside. And she hardly tires when chasing the lawn mower. Bella loves to sun herself on cold days and digs cool deep holes in the summer, and is ever watchful for the butterfly or bird passing over the yard. They must not invade her space! Squirrels know not to touch the ground when Bella is on patrol - even their chatter will draw a few barks from her. But she politely lets the gas meter reader in without a sound.

As with all corgis, they just have such a delightful grin. Their eyes are cheery and light up when they see you. But there are moments of dog sibling rivalry and Bella and Everett are at odds. They will growl at each other and make great efforts to not stay in the same room at times. I have to separate them when I feed them. Everett is very possessive with his food dish and snacks. But all is forgiven in a few hours.

Mom tells me that I've let Bella become dominant. That I am not leader of the pack. Mom is probably right. If you stop for a moment to pat Bella's head she will immediately roll over on her back for a belly rub. Every time. If you stop petting her she will not so gently nudge (read hit) your hand to let you know "Do not stop!" Lately she has been annoyed with the male members of her pack.

Bella Rose is an independent thinker, a hard worker, one who loves much and is loyal to a fault. She lets you know where you stand with her, is always happy to see you, and loves a good belly rub. And even in the midst of a nap if I announce I am going outside she is the first to jump up and run to the door, yet she knows in the middle of the night when I get up I am only going to the bathroom and will be back - no need to wake.

They say what kind of dog you have tells something about you. I hope so.

Laundry

I adore the fresh scent of sheets that have dried outdoors. I love to hang out clothes. Windy days when the sheets flap back into my face. Hot days when the first load is almost dried by the time I get the second load out. Rainy afternoons where I have to run to get my clothes in before getting soaked.

My love affair with the clothesline began as a child. Slipping into cool sheets on a hot summers night and the smell, oh the smell. Even now when I make my bed with fresh linens it sends me back. In a family of eight you better believe clothes were hung out. I learned from my mother how to separate and hang everything from underwear to towels. All the socks first, then the underwear, the shirts, and finally the pants. That order has not changed for me in forty years.

About four years ago we moved to a cottage with a little over one acre in a small town. Here I decided that I must hang out my clothes. The search for clothesline posts was on. No success. I had finally convinced my husband he could make some out of wooden 4 x 4's when Mom said we could use her old metal posts which had been uprooted due to a new garage. After getting them home I painted them and got the lines set up. I was in business.

I am so weird that the most impressive thing that I remember from the 2005 movie version of War of the Worlds is not over-emoting Tom Cruise, creepy Tim Robbins, or screaming Dakota Fanning but the scene where all the sheets were on the clothesline in the backyards and the wind was blowing so hard they were snapping. Now that is some fresh sheets.

When I was young we lived in an apartment complex in Maryland. It was the 1960's. There was a laundry room for the tenants to use. I loved the smell of the laundry room. Especially in the winter. The humid bleach smell was a sharp contrast against the brisk winter smell and would draw us into the laundry room to thaw until we were sent out by someone who was probably afraid we were going to stick each other into the dryer and turn it on.

Besides doing laundry I also enjoy ironing. I even ironed my boy's clothes when they were toddlers. Even if I don't have the latest fashion (which I don't) I can at least be clean and pressed. Mom taught me how to iron Dad's shirts when I was in the sixth grade. They were cotton shirts at that time. We used starch. A crisp pressed cotton shirt is a thing of beauty. I showed my boys how to press their shirts when they were in high school. They may not know how to cook but they know how to go out without wrinkles.