I Fought the Law and...

Sheldon and Louise have left, and the house feels oddly empty. Just before they departed, they presented Bob and I with two forsythia bushes. (I have a photo of the plants around here somewhere, but am using the forced forsythia in a vase as I can't seem to find my picture. I've been disorganized lately, so the picture above will gave to suffice.) Any kind of plant is a great gift. Thank you!
On Friday morning, a lot was happening. I had to be at work a bit earlier than usual and Sheldon and Louise were preparing to depart, so it was even more chaotic than is typical. It was therefore in a flurry that I went out the door and "put petal to the metal" as they say. I do drive a little over the speed limit on good days (who doesn't?) but on Friday I was really booking. As I rounded a bend on Route 109 in Morris (not far from the fabled Stoddard House that Bob and I almost purchased three times), I spied a police car parked in a recessed driveway. It had been there a few times earlier this month, so I should have remembered and slowed down. Too late, I hit the brakes and tried to look nonchalant as I sped past the cruiser. Sure enough, there were festive flashing lights and sirens in my rear view mirror.

I rolled my window down, with my license at the ready and said, preemptively, "I'm sorry. I know I was speeding. But I'm late for work and I've had house guests for almost a month." The officer asked me where I worked, replying, "Interesting". when I told him and he returned to his car. I sat, stewing in my own self pitying juices, thinking how I was going to get an expensive ticket and how I hadn't even considered until then that my stupid emissions sticker was expired and great! I still have my "Dogs Against Romney" bumper sticker- life sucked! He let me sit for quite a while. (I was going pretty fast. It's only a 35 mph speed limit).
But then the police officer finally returned , he said, "I'm letting you off with a verbal warning". $%!^!$!&^!!!
Wow! The great gods of all things traffic really smiled down on this law breaker! I don't know if there's a moral to this story, but I got an apology and a break on a ticket in one week. And two forsythia bushes. Sweet.

Spring Cleaning Unlikely Anytime Soon...

Well, I did start raking up the garden today as the sun was lovely and I felt compelled to spend the day outside. When was that last possible? Interestingly, we have heard peepers that last several nights and there are mini-rosettes of sedums emerging from under the leaves. Spring is here.
I have been (unfortunately) none too motivated to do the cleaning that is apparently needed within the house- not my favorite activity! Despite Bob drawing appealing faces on the scrub brushes (see photo above) and other tricks, I am resistant. The upstairs bathroom will soon be condemned and even with semi-frequent sweepings of the kitchen, dog hair "kittens" skiddle across the floor. But isn't house work a loosing battle anyway? No sooner do you finish than you have to begin all over again... so why start in the first place? You will remark that the above scrubber brush has some random filth dribbling down over it's face.

And speaking of sedums, here's a nifty blue one that is tender, but we overwintered in the house. It's stretching a bit as it's probably not as happy as it would be if it were outside in it's native habitat, but it will look good in a few weeks. And plants, of course, grow in dirt so dirt can't be all bad...
I look forward to spending a small fortune on plants this spring as we're on a garden tour. (Don't worry Bob; I said a "small" (very) fortune.) I may not buy shoes, or lust after leather sofas, large screen tv's or things like actual furniture, but boy! we all know I never met a garden center I didn't like.
My wish list has already begun, without my setting a single foot in a nursery: a variegated yucca (had one in Bridgewater, but lost it!), another plum tree (to cross pollinate with the one we almost killed), a witch hazel, a clethra... You get the idea: the list goes on and on. Hey! My birthday is coming!

Studio Progress, Early Spring Style

Oh boy! I couldn't be happier! Bob, with a tiny bit of lifting help from Sheldon and yours truly, got my actual, official studio windows in place this last week. Doesn't that look great? All it takes is a few days of cooperative weather and above freezing temperatures, and the universe smiles down on us and windows are installed. No more plastic for me! (I took the liberty of tweaking out a few stray dead branches that were obstructing the beauty of the above photo. Don't you just love Photoshop?)
Here's an interior shot:

The windows are hinged on the tops and will push out from the bottom. Bob is investigating appropriate hardware. This resumption of the studio project has made me ecstatic. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel (no, I am not departing this mortal coil!) and the reality that soon I will take up occupancy. Hooray!
Sheldon and Louise are still with us and I can't say it enough: they're the best house guests. We have put them through all kinds of tests and adventures (Like last night we had a tremendous downpour. Sheldon reported to us this morning that he had a drip on his face... ooops! We seem to have a bit of a ceiling leak; that would happen above a guest's bed. Yuck yuck yuck.) But other than that, we're encouraging them to use a bit of their East Coast time to look for real estate. Remember how much fun we had last week?