A Visit To Troyer's Amish Nursery

6:39

9:15

It's 7:44 and I have been up since 6:30, listening to a couple of boring podcasts and reading on my computer. It's windy and 45º and we got close to an inch of rain last night to my surprise. It's 9:00 and I didn't have much luck kayaking. I paddled north into the wind for four or five minutes, making little headway, then allowed the wind to push me back home. Not a good start to the day. 

Heron Morning

Kayak Morning

Choppy Waters

Saturday began as usual with a paddle, of course, and then the relaxing morning coffee because neither of us had to be anywhere, me no yoga, Evie no kindergarten class. It's funny how that feels luxurious even as if I have to go to yoga each day when I don't. It's not like a job. We took our time waking up but by 10:30, we were on our way to the Transfer Station and dropped off the trash. We then drove to Sherman, about a 20-minute drive, to Slab City, where we were able to pick up some compost and good soil for Evie's garden. On the way home, we stopped at an Amish greenhouse called Troyers and it's like a brief visit to a theme park with a pavilion as well as large pond. We pulled into the parking lot and were shocked at how crowded it was. When we walked into the enormous greenhouse, there was a line of at least 25 people waiting to check out. I guess Saturday is not the best day to shop. Anyways, we found a cart and perused both the annual and perrenials for a half hour, dodging other carts, often groaning with flowers. Once Evie had enough, we were fortunate to have only ten people in front of us as we checked out. 

Enough Flowers?

We were home by 12:30 and while Evie made me a couple of toasted cheese sandwiches, I set up an area in the garage for her to work on planting her dahlia tubers in yogurt containers until they sprout. The tubers Evie dug up last fall are in huge clumps and she has to carefully separate them without damaging the eye where new growth forms.  She spent a good part of the afternoon doing that while I lazed around, occasionally napping, watching basketball or reading my Tana French novel, Broken Harbor, which I am enjoying more and more. By 4:30, Evie had had it with dahlias, so I went out and cleaned up the garage and moved all the flowers on the porch in case it got too cold. 

Shades Of Gray: 8:04 PM

We then enjoyed a happy hour with a glass of wine or in my case a nonalcoholic beer. It felt good to relax, especially for Evie, as the sky darkened, turning various shades of gray. Dinner was great, three small lamb chops apiece, baked potatoes with butter and sour cream, and a salad. We started a series on Hulu called Under The Bridge with some trepidations, about a teenage murder but we stuck with it, watching three episodes. I then watched some of the Cavs game but it seemed clear they were going to lose to the Celtics so I went up to bed.