I find that there's nothing like a catchy title to lure you in. Hopefully, my title did exactly that. However, if you tuned in to see photos from the twin's birthday yesterday or hear Garin's latest Beatles' performance, you'll have to hold on just a little longer.
The past few days of homeschooling have been a bit brutal for us, not to mention the colonoscopy earlier this week, which now feels like a hundred years ago. It was my intention to get all the twin's photos edited and the blog written by tonight, but alas, my teaching duties trumped my best-laid plans. I much prefer my job as a writer and blogger than my day job as a teacher. However, I have had to finally accept that I have no choice in the matter. The pandemic has seen to that.
As I sat down this evening to start to edit the multitude of photos shot during the twin's birthday yesterday, I asked Garin if he might be willing to pinch-hit for me tonight. We recorded his latest Beatles piece earlier this week and he had planned to write a blog about it. Unlike me, he doesn't write well under pressure and didn't feel he could do the post justice without giving it some more time and thought. I acquiesced and told him I would pinch-hit for him.
So tonight, you get roses, instead of a birthday or The Beatles. You must admit, they are pretty roses!
Since all our bushes are now in and flowering beautifully,, Catherine and I go out daily to tend to them. We look at each bush, check it's health, and see how the flowers are progressing from the day before. We discuss each bud find in detail. We decided which ones we are going to cut to bring in and which ones might be a bit past their prime or not quite ready to come off. We continue to try to commit all 30 bushes' names to memory. She remembers more of them than I do and rarely lets me snip a rose unless I can tell her the name of the bush from which I am cutting it, first.
Once we are done in the yard, we bring them inside, in a big basket, and lay them on the counter. I am then tasked with trimming the bottoms and the leaves off, and all while trying to not get too badly pricked by the pesky thorns. I carefully pull the wilting blooms out of the vases and replace them with the new ones that we cut.
I have found this new daily ritual to be one of my favorite parts of the day. Catherine and I get to be together, uninterrupted (not once have one of the boys shown any interest in joining us). I enjoy checking on the bushes to see how they are progressing (I now feel like I have 30 more children). I cut off any dead flowers and see if there are any new ones ready to cut. I love bringing them in the house and seeing how the collection changes each day as I add new flowers to the existing ones in the vases. I never tire of their exquisite beauty.
In closing, Garin and I offer our apologies for ensnaring you into this rose blog with promises of birthday stories and Beatles performances. Please enjoy the feast of roses below while you await our upcoming posts.
