Yesterday Chess had an episode that caused us to go to the emergency room. I sat there for several hours, everything checked out okay, and we went for our morning walk today with the usual gusto (me being dragged along). Still, I’m nervous.

all ready for the walk this morning.
“an inch of time is worth an ounce of jade”

In the middle of all this trauma (dog owners can surely relate), it occurred to me to check on the status of my bottle. Yes, I secretly test bottles for winter hardiness. Not something you go around telling people, for sure. I thought the bottle would fill with snow, then ice, and burst, but no.

Cuvee Dom Perignon en magnum. Perfectly hardy in my garden.

I’ve been thinking about making a bottle tree. Traditionally made to catch evil spirits, but I suspect that this isn’t really effective.

The original plan for these bottles was for them to be cut, and the bottoms used for a mosaic or something similar. Nothing ever came of it, so I thought a bottle tree would be a good idea.

The decision to make a mosaic out of champagne bottles was an easy one. I had to buy the bottles, of course, and empty the contents.

I felt so sorry for myself today (the dog is of course oblivious), that I had to go to Tony’s and pick up some health food.

Italian butter cream, I believe. Now in the past tense.

strawberry cream cheese “everyday cake”. more like every hour cake.

cannoli. to be perfectly precise, cannolo. more than one came home with me, though.

Oreo cookie cake. It is entirely possible that I’ll come to my senses as usual and give some of these things to the neighbors.

Oh, I know, this is supposed to be about gardening. Well, the dog likes to garden and the bottle was in the garden, but here are some crummy pictures just to prove I know what this is really all about.

I’m not overly interested in “traditional” garden plants for my garden, but I do dote on asters.

‘Chilly Winds’. this came from Seneca Hill Nursery; it’s the first novae-angliae type to bloom here.

‘Septemberrubin’. September Ruby. with me trying to block out the sun.

a hybrid that appeared in the garden; larger flowers than ‘Harrington’s Pink’. we called it “Pooka’s Pink” since it appeared next to the shortcut that our second border collie made through the garden.