Friday, July 11, 2014

Brown Thumb

I feel like there are those who enjoy gardening and those who really don't. Personally, I'd much prefer to admire others gardens than plant one myself. Because I do like them. In fact I planted blueberries and strawberries and sugar snaps this year. Except by that I mean that I picked them out and my Head Gardener planted them for me. See, that's how I enjoy them. I also don't mind decorating them. Designing, plotting, and picking plants is my specialty, it's just when it comes to tending them that I have an issue. I like immediate results. Which is maybe why my favorite flower is a sunflower. They need hardly any tending, yet they grow inches every day and are enormously satisfying.

I also have a knack for watering. Every time I water it seems as if it did nothing at all, or I drowned them. Let's just say that my thumb is brown, and that no one should ask me to take care of their garden. Actually, I am doing a neighbor's lawn over the summer, and that includes their plants. I've been really scared of them all dying by the time they get back from vacation, but they seem to be doing okay. One section is mostly vegetables, or some other kinds of edible plants. I was given permission to harvest and eat them myself since no one else will be around but the problem is I don't know a thing about growing a beet or lettuce or anything! Most of it I wouldn't eat anyway, but one was labelled broccoli so I thought I'd take a look at it, and not knowing whether it was ripe or not, pulled the plant up. Hmmm... lesson number one, broccoli doesn't grow underground. I put it back. Hopefully nothing goes wrong if I let other things like the beets rot underground?

Have I enticed you yet to buy some delectable worm filled apples or squirrel munched pumpkins? How about brown petunias? I also have weeds aplenty. My plant business is called Whomping Willows. Special orders only. I do funeral arrangements, and just about any other occasion you can think of. Payments must be made up front. Interested? My website isn't functional, so you'll have to comment and I'm sure we can work something out.

In other news, I've been waiting for a flop post that needed extensions, and here it is. Kitty Korner is back:
About two weeks ago, I gave my cats baths. It was a lovely Sunday afternoon (or was it Saturday?) and they seemed to be begging for it. Lily was the only one inside at the time so, she had to go first. I think that, if possible, I have grown even more attached to her. I felt extremely bad! Like, I felt as if I were betraying her and almost couldn't do it. She was sitting in the windowsill just sunning and looking like the cutest little thing you ever saw and I don't know how to say it, but I just felt really, really bad! Anyhow, when I carried her to the bathtub and closed the door, she started howling. Poor baby. The entire time I apologized to her and she was so pitiful. She mewed so much I had to shut the window for fear people walking by would think I was torturing her. There was only one major escape attempt towards the window which ended in a bit of slashing at the soap. Fred sat outside the door mewing back and commiserating with Lily. Little did he know, he was next. I wrapped Lily up in a towel and stuck her in the backyard to dry.

Fred was much better. He was sad, but I didn't feel as bad because boy was he dirty! He also had a go at the soap and made his mark. I told him that he would look a lot more like a movie star if he let me wash him so he cooperated for the most part, considering he's probably four times stronger than his sister. I put him out near Lily, who was in the exact same spot as I'd left her and looking like a little fluff. George showed up right at that moment, not wanting to miss the fun I suppose. So into the tub he went. He was the worst noise- wise. For about five minutes he made no protest, not a single meow. I think he was in shock. Then he went crazy and didn't stop the rest of the time. I swear that they all lost their meows after that for a few days. George was especially hoarse. So a little scrub a dub dub and one more swipe at the soap for good measure and he was done. Into the back he went where he got his own sun spot near the other two, right where I left them. Those two were beginning to look a little more like cats instead of sheep but Lily was still licking herself.

Obviously it's been a while and now they might be just as dirty as they were before since they've caught a number of things I don't care to mention, but they are still so soft and much cleaner to the eye. Their fur had gotten so greasy over winter. I'm glad that chore is out of the way for the year. I would enlist help, but I don't think Lily would let anyone else come near her, she already thinks I'm out to punish her. Another job opportunity! Just let me know if your cat needs a bath.

No comments:

Post a Comment