gardens | Love, Laughter, and Life

I adore trees. I love trees. I want to have my own personal Hundred Acre Wood.

Our first summer in our new home, we planted 6 new trees. We’ve since added 2 more very large trees.

Our tree selection and planting usually occurs in early spring or late fall.

It has NEVER taken place in December. When there is several feet of snow on the ground. And said ground is frozen. Shoveled drifts stand all along the perimeter of our yard.

There. Is. No. Access. To. Dirt.

So tell me Tree Experts, aka Arbor Day Foundation, why would you ship my new baby trees to me (in Washington state, in winter, in December, in a very snowy year) right now?

Sure, I would love to plant them. I would have fun heeling them in to grow for a few years before transplanting them to their new location in the yard.

But that is not going to happen right now. In fact, it won’t happen for several months. I’m pretty sure the snow will not melt within the 2-3 days of approved wait time to plant. I’m actually confident that even if the snow melts in January, the ground will still stay cold enough to be undiggable. That is also true about February as well.

So here we go. What to do with my lovely little sad baby trees. And such nice varieties, too.

I am fortunate that I never got around to putting away a large clay pot. Dirt is a different matter. Come on honey, bring me those dead poinsettias so I can steal the dirt.

We are all going to be cozy baby trees and snuggle up in the same pot until the ground is actually ready for planting. What, maybe 3-4-5 months?

I hope they like each other.

Last week I spent four days at the Pacific Northwest Writers Association annual conference. It was truly a time of learning and making connections. Not only did writers attend a variety of sessions, we were also able to pitch (picture speed dating, except the conversation is about writing projects and the two parties are author and agent or editor) potential projects to many agents and editors that were present. Let’s not forget the special evening events with guest panels (how about J.A. Jance? Robert Dugoni? and more), dinners, desserts, and an award ceremony.

To put it bluntly, we ran from sun up to sun down. Exhaustion was my traveling companion on the way home. But it was worth every single second.

What does one do after such a fantastic outing?

~ Zucchini and yellow squash. Yes, you read that correctly. Dear old hubby did not eat a single one. Or so appearances would seem. He had harvested 3 super huge squash and I found an additional 13. Thirteen could be a good number, but not when considering what to do with that many squash. New house rule: If you visit, you take at least one squash when you leave.

~ Raspberries. Again, an attempt was made to pick the laden canes. The full bowl rested untouched in the fridge. After my attack on the killer canes, I added another colander full – all to be washed, picked over, and put in the freezer.

~ Laundry. Even one person can make a huge mess in a week. I did. I am still unable to find certain undergarments. I hope they did not stay for a longer visit at the hotel.

~ Green beans. Can you tell the garden needed me while I was gone? Tomorrow I will tackle the wax and green beans.

~ Unpacking. Again, how much mess can a single traveler make? Plenty.

~ Paperwork. This is a very important step following a conference of any type. I made so many great connections with other writers. I need to sort out all of the business cards and make contact on social media with my colleagues. I also need to check out information that I collected about businesses that provide assistance to writers.

~ Synopsis and query. At the conference, I pitched one of my picture books. The agent I spoke with was interested in reading my manuscript, so now I need to write a synopsis. And a query letter. And then I need to submit my work to her. Praying this has a great ending!

~ See my grandbabies. What? You didn’t think I had forgotten them, did you? Only a week, and all of them have shot up taller.

Yawn. I am slowly catching up with jobs, even sleep. I missed you!

I’m off to write a synopsis and query letter.