All in a Garden Green

Continuing with the "good weekend" theme, Saturday afternoon, kurlon and I went to Cumberland County Choppers to play "not my bike!" because they had the reps from Royal Enfield in, and they were doing test rides. Royal Enfield motorcycles, I learned, are the longest continuous-production bikes in the world. They're single cylinder, pretty normal, well-behaved bikes. Very pretty, classic styling on these. One of them even matched my shoes... :)

Had we been considering buying one, however, the sales guy lost any hope of actually making a sale just about the moment we stepped onto the lot and under the tent. He asked me, "So, you're here for a test ride?" "Yes." I said. "On your own bike?" he asked, with a note of 'oh, little girl, these big ol' motorcycles aren't your thing...' in his voice. "Yes." I said, with a note of 'do you treat all your potential customers like this?' in mine... I was... displeased. But not about to let it ruin the afternoon.

Filled out the paperwork, was introduced to my motorcycle, a "C5" body style. Light, quick, maneuverable. kurlon was on the "B5" style, a little longer, a lot heavier (it seemed, when we went to switch halfway through the demo). Nervous, I was, it being Not My Bike, and ohgodwhatifIdumpit? but was determined to do what I knew how to do. I think the rep was a bit confused when we got ready for the ride, and put on all. the. gear. Gloves, jacket (love my jacket, mesh, ventilated), and helmets. Dude, I don't care if it's "only a 5 mile loop" or whatever it was. We're going at traffic speed, I'm on an unfamiliar bike, and there are still other cars out there, all of whom want to kill us (or should be treated as such), thanks very much.

It was a fun ride. Still nervous, wasn't sure what to expect from this strange new vehicle, but I did OK. Started getting comfortable on it right about when we pulled back into the shop... bah. We had the option of swapping bikes halfway through the ride, but I kept the one I was on. I couldn't even sit on the one kurlon was riding, the seat was pretty weird. But it's a comfortable bike, 500cc, ~30 hp or so, a good bike for putting around town. Not so much for highway travel or long distances, I don't think. Not unless you get the sidecar...

Returned home to the garden, planted my beautiful Oakleaf Hydrangea. So gorgeous. It completes the terrace quite nicely. That is the one thing I was absolutely certain of when I first found it last year; there would have to be an Oakleaf Hydrangea there. And so there is. Hopefully it makes it through the winter OK, they can be fussy here... but that spot seemed to keep a lot of snow on it last year, so I am hopeful.


All in all, a darn fine weekend. Surprise birthday party for anna_mickel at the house this evening, lots of people over, lots of delicious food, a fun time.

After a too-early wakeup call, a whirlwind trip to Augusta this morning (complete with ridiculous traffic) and a semi-leisurely trip back (stop at Christmas Tree Shop, and a nursery (which I had a gift card for, but discovered upon arrival that I had left it in my other purse, dammit. Oh well. Bought the 2 plants I wanted anyway, and will go back for 2 more when I actually have the dang card)), finally returned home late afternoon.

In the interest of not acquiring more plants unless I actually have a spot to put them so they won't linger and die in their pots, I set to work on rebuilding the collapsed front bit of the terrace out the front door. Several rocks and 13 buckets of loam later, it looked pretty good. kurlon and I took a quick trip to the transfer station to get rid of some construction debris from the garage, and stopped by the scary little discount shop in town to see if we could find any hoses, and I came away with an itty bitty pot of coral bells. Marked at $2.99, apparently on sale for 50% off, and I was able to split it into 3 pieces (that's 50 cents each, for those playing along at home... woo!). I call it victory. A good plant day.

The terrace is very shady, like most of the property, but gets some direct morning sun. The upper level will be home to an Oakleaf Hydrangea (once I bring it home, finally), and the lower level is perfect for my Heuchera collection. The 2 new 'Pistache' Coral Bells and the 'Caramel' I picked up earlier this week seem to be quite happy in their new home, and there's room for at least two more. :) The three little bitty 'Ruby Bells' tuck nicely into the front of the upper level, and will be a nice compliment to the eventual Hydrangea.

In other house news, we have a garage door! It's beautiful! I'll get my bay back soon, and won't have to spend another winter cleaning poor Rosie off! She'll be happier in the garage, too... she's getting old, and cold mornings are not fun for either of us...

Eyup, it's been a few weeks. I'm still alive. No worries.

And I have a big pile of dirt to play in! Yaaaay! Unfortunately it's raining, and shoveling a yard and a half of soil/compost mix in the wet doesn't seem like a whole lot of fun, if I can avoid it... I have covered it with a tarp to hopefully stave off some of the soggy.

Found the sunny spot on the property (morning till 2:00 PM, or so...), and Max helped me put together the raised garden box over the last two weekends, out of rafters from the old garage. I think it'll work. 4' x 12' x 10" high, divided in the middle. I have some seeds started, others that will be started soon, since they're probably not going in the ground till next weekend at this point, and I want at least a little jump on things. Kinda late anyway, but I'll give it a go...

Plans are for Quinoa ('Brightest Brilliant Rainbow'!), cucumbers, and at least one tomato ('Yellow Pear', started a few weeks ago, still small... hoping to maybe pick up another 'Pineapple' at the Farmer's Market or somewhere), and maybe some of whatever 6-paks are left at work. Half the box and possibly half the other side will be annuals, the other side will focus more on the perennial veggies, like asparagus and rhubarb and strawberries. Mmmm...

I am going to have some soil left over, which will find homes in the terraces and where I ripped out the wintercreeper, and will hopefully help improve the semi-sandy, pale, nutrient-poor stuff that is there now.