Catherine had a slumber party in my room last night and slept at the foot of my bed in her unicorn sleeping bag. Fitzy cuddled with her this morning and awoke her from her slumber.
Garin and Graham had their noses in their books first thing this morning where they kept them for much of the day.
I headed out around 11 this morning to start working on the roses It's that time of year again. Time to cut back all 250 or so of them. I thought I would work for about an hour or two today. I didn't finish up until 5:30, in the dark.
Some of the bushes have downright deadly thorns.
The kids came and went for much the day, while I was outside working, and rode their scooters and bikes. It was a brisk day, ideal for hard labor (me) and frolicking around on scooters and bikes (them).
Even Fitzy got in on the act and joined me while I worked.
When he refused to move operations from the front yard to the back, I had to grab him in one arm and my debris bin in the other and whisk him away.
Around 3 this afternoon, Garin reluctantly agreed to join me in the garden, after having spent most of the on the couch reading. It was good for him to get some fresh air. When I asked him if he felt the same sense of gratification I do when finishing trimming down a bush to almost nothing his response was, "Not really, but I love the sound of the clippers as they cut the branches." Whatever keeps you pruning, is fine by me.
At around 4:30, with darkness closing in on me, I recruited both Graham and Miles to help me clean up the debris left behind by all the pruning. I had cleaned the entire front yard, but the backyard needing tending to, especially with more heavy rains coming tomorrow. Trust me, you have to be pretty desperate to enlist Miles' "help.". He worked for a short bit, left Graham to do the rest, then traversed the back hillside and started climbing trees. To be expected.
This is the newest rose garden that I installed about a month ago. It holds 35 iceberg bushes. I haven't even started to cut these back yet. Garin's suggestion: "Why don't you skip those ones this year Mom?" He makes a good point.
Here is my final cutting for the season. I placed them strategically in my bedroom so that I could see them before I go to sleep and again when I awaken in the morning. I won't have anymore until late March or April. I will miss my beloved roses.
After washing up from my hours and hours of rose care, I took the kids out for dinner and then we went on a drive to see Christmas lights. These were some of the houses in Hidden Hills, including none other than Kim Kardashian's house. Can you guess which one is hers?
We also visited the one and only Candy Cane Lane in Woodland Hills, which was so charming. This little street has been following this tradition of decorating their homes (Griswold style, including candy canes) for 70 years. It was my first time experiencing it and I was so happy to do it with the kids.
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