MONDAY, MONDAY

As you might know, on Monday, I did not write a blog entry.  Well, I did, but it was more of a temper tantrum or a balking mule kind of thing, than a real blog entry.

Here's what I did instead.

First, I painted one of my very favorite things....my chimenea.

This was really fun and I was wanting me some fun!

It's a 16 x 20 canvas on which I had played one day with some bright red and iridescent gold paint.   I allowed some of the gold to show through here and there...especially where I placed  the flame.

I like it.

Then, I pulled weeds.

I have shown you my mass planting of African daisies.  This is what they looked like yesterday morning.

All over Tucson, these are in full bloom.  As you can see, mine are  not.  Mine are in shade for a large part of the day and African daisies are real sun-lovers....so they are a little slow to bloom in this particular spot.  However, after everyone else's daisies have succumbed to the summer heat, mine are still blooming their pretty little heads off!  So, it's a good trade-off.

You can see how thick they are.  Interspersed among all the daisies is an abundance of weeds.  Tiny ones, for the most part.  Removing them from this planting is either an exercise in futility or a labor of love..however you choose to look at it.

It is rather like trying to single out every brown hair left on my grey head and removing it.

It is a very Zen-ish activity so it was a good way to clear my head of all the negativity I was feeling yesterday.

It is very hard on my out-of-shape body.  I have to be very careful where I put my feet...or where I plop my big butt, or I will squash these sweet little daisies. There is a huge amount of stretching, bending and, God help my aching thighs, squatting.

We have all seeen those plywood cut-out yard decorations of the woman bending over with her big butt just sticking out like a........like a big butt!

I realized I have become that woman.  The squatting must be kept to a minimum...or I will surely die. 

Just look at this!  And try to pick out only the weeds!

Here's one.

Truth be told, after all my  weed-pulling it still looks about the same and I also know I will have to repeat this exercise in futility/labor of love every few days until those weeds are really under control. 

And guess what?

It is raining again this morning..which, of course means MORE WEEDS!

But that's a gardener's life, isn't it?

Speaking of which.............

Do any of you gardeners recognize this plant?

My daughter-in-law once shared some day-lillies with me and these must have been mixed up with them.  The lillies didn't make it...too much desert heat, I imagine...but these have flourished.  I love the crisp white against the Spring green.  They grow so easily that I am sure they are as common as weeds in some parts of the country but I haven't been able to find anyone here who knows what they are.

If you can tell me, I'd be so grateful.

And, I'm grateful that each day is a new beginning and I'm not stuck in 'yesterday.'

WISH YOU WERE HERE

There are two things which most people wouldn’t consider a necessity, but I do. One is, as you might guess, my beloved Kodak Easy Share, point and shoot digital camera.


The other is this.

This is a chimenea. It’s made of clay. It’s a ‘thing’ in which to have a fire. Lots of people have them out this-a-way. And I believe their popularity has spread to other parts of the country. For good reason.

Tell me, what meets our primal instincts better than fire? It means warmth and safety and a way to cook up some vittles. That’s not a bad start. But to me, it also means total relaxation. It means memories of many friends and family who have sat with me in this very spot…sometimes till way up in the wee hours. The talks. The silence. Both were precious.

This poor chimenea had a run-in with a visiting 2 year old. When nobody was looking, he filled it with water from the garden hose. I, unthinkingly, did not remove the sand from its’ bottom…the result is the disintegration you see clearly. Sand in your bottom is NEVER a good thing.

Also, it’s cracked. And it has age spots. Like me. It still works, though, also like me. And probably will for another 10 years or so. I hope I do, too.

It provides warmth and relaxation….and is an inspiration for silent meditation or long, meaningful talks. And it gives off my most favorite perfume in the whole world.....cedar or juniper wood smoke!

It’s been know to roast a marshmallow or two…more like a hundred.

Last year, hubby and I built this permanent‘stand’ for the chimenea. It had been loose-stacked for several years and I was tired of it getting all ‘whomper-jawed.’ That was my mom’s term for anything that was out of whack. Feel free to borrow it, if you like.

So, I decided to make a permanent place for my beloved chimenea. It was necessary to have it raised up enough so that I wouldn’t get a crick in my neck from staring into the fire.

It HAD to have a ‘hearth’ to prop my feet on. And shelves for a cup of coffee or a glass of wine. It didn’t have to be level. And, it isn’t.

It is built mostly from a neighbor’s discarded stones from a huge barbeque pit. Once again, my gift for scrounging paid off!

We had a little help from Codi, our cat.

This might be my very favorite picture of myself, taken while we were working on this project. 
I know......you've seen it before....and you just might see it again!

Yep! That’s me, in all my messy glory! Concrete and mud all over my torn up, worn out, memory- remembering cut off shorts and my Mickey Mouse shirt.

I’ve worn those shorts on lots of ‘special’ days…including that ‘memorable’ Thanksgiving I recently wrote about. Can you say underdressed?

One night recently, I built a fire in that chimenea. And as I sat by it, I watched the fire.  And I watched the sky. Father Sky was pretty much a tease that night. I kept thinking that he would put on a real show. It didn’t happen. But, still……….
This……….

and this………..

plus this………….

and this....

To say nothing of this.

Well, it doesn’t get any better. And I wish you were here, my good friends, my sons, my grandkids, my cousins, my aunts and my uncles, my neice and my nephew….and just everybody that I love and am Grateful to have in my life.

I truly believe that if everybody would just sit in front of a glowing fire a little more often, the world would be a better place.

I am so very, very GRATEFUL for my chimenea!