Greetings and salutations, everyone; yes, once again it is I, your popular host, Mani the purebred border collie, here to bring you up to date on the latest news, even though there isn’t much to report. You may remember me from such posts as “Misty, Drizzly, Rainy”, among so many other dampish posts.
Here I am in a characteristic pose.
It’s been raining here on and off for several days now, and so hardly anything has gotten done. It even snowed here on Monday night. Kind of an atmospheric picture, don’t you think?
The snow mostly melted the next day and nothing really happened. It didn’t even freeze.
I guess the only interesting thing, besides all the rain, is the invasion of giant ants here. Maybe just one ant isn’t an invasion. 
Robins are collecting nesting material, too. You might not be able to see the robin I’m looking at here, because all these pictures were taken with the phone, and they won’t enlarge the way regular pictures do. It’s right out there in front of the pots.
There are hummingbirds everywhere. You might not be able to see this, either. (I’m not sure why we’re posting pictures of things no one can see.)
Oh. A couple of things. Today is the ninth anniversary of the death of Slipper, a purebred border collie who lived here with Chess, and so I thought I should take a moment to acknowledge that. He died on the back patio, here, with Chess and the guy I live with right there with him.
There’s another anniversary tomorrow. I’m not sure if we’re going to do a post or not.
And, also, the laptop here is broken and the guy I live with has to buy another one. He thinks that’s annoying, but a whole bunch of the keys don’t work, and the graphics card is broken somehow.
Here’s a picture of the “way back” showing how wet and weedy it is.
Of course, the guy I live with, whose mind is obviously not functioning properly, agreed to have the garden on tour next month. I’m not sure who’s going to do all the weeding.
In the meanwhile, he ordered some more hens and chicks, or sempervivums if you prefer, and planted them in the containers which were either empty or had dead plants in them. He said that at one time he didn’t care for the idea of troughs filled with hens and chicks, but now he thinks these are a better choice than a lot of plants that need constant watering. 
That really is all I have for now. It just started to rain again, so Ill have to wait a bit before I can go on my walk. It will probably be a damp walk anyway.
Until next time, then.
the miserable gardener 
That’s kind of a yearning, longing look on your face in the first picture. Or, perhaps just thinking about sad anniversaries of which there are too many. Please do your best to comfort TGYLW. And as the garden show gets nearer, don’t step on any delicate plants. I don’t know about there, but any time someone comes here to look at the garden (and certainly not an actual garden tour) it was always looking perfect about a week before they arrived. Perhaps you could develop a taste for grassy weeds. My dogs love them. Sometimes the “packages” they expel look as though they’ve been eating hay.
Thanks; I do like snacking on the smooth brome. There’s so much, though, that I’d never be able to make a dent in it. And the guy I live with says it can’t go into stir fries. I don’t know why he said yes to the tour. He doesn’t know either. We had one a couple of years ago that I really enjoyed. Well, tomorrow…. At first he said we would just hang around the house and be thoughtful and sad, and then he was going to go to the arboretum with his friend, but now she has to do something tomorrow, which is fine, but now the guy I live with has to go over to his sister’s to have her sign something because the original documents which were sent overnight never appeared where they were supposed to appear, and so I guess tomorrow won’t be the day he thought it would be. There’s a metaphor there somewhere, I think.
Wish I could make the garden tour next month, but duty calls here.
I’ve been uncharacteristically focused on hens and chicks this year. Must be the weird weather.
So much rain in Indiana that a sinkhole opened up and swallowed 2 lanes of 265, just a couple of miles from our house. Traffic patterns will be bonkers for quite a while, I fear.
The guy I live with said something about all the rain “out east”.
Hens and chicks are pretty great, I hear, though they need to have chicken wire over them until they root, otherwise squirrels will get to them, even when I’m on guard.
Last year he ordered one called ‘Big Slipper’, which he divided with his friend who owns a nursery, but he still has some of it, nd maybe you can understand why he felt he had to get that one.
Nice collection of hens and chicks.
Thanks. There are even more than the not-very-focused pictures show.
Funny, I’ve been thinking of more hens and chicks too! The ones here when I moved in were in poor shape, and not very attractive. Now that I’ve moved them, and it’s spring, they’re beautiful and I want more!
Where does your guy get his?
He gets them from SMG Succulents. Each one was about four dollars. You get a hen or two, and some chicks.
SMG Succulents is certainly a fun place to look, thanks for the referral. My tendency to water things makes succulents a challenge but perhaps I will be a reformed non-waterer at some point so its good to know where to shop.
ceci
You’re welcome. They do grow hens and chicks in places like England, which I think is not a desert. They seem very happy here after it snows or rains.
Meow meow mee iss happy to see you today Mani (an LadyMew too!) Shee all wayss *sighsss* an says how hansum you are….(mee agreess!!)
Guud greef ’bout more snow an icky weather; wee not have snow butt it rainss efurry day it seemss an wee iss thinkin an ARC…no wait..an ARK wuud bee a guud idea! Wee cuud see yore Robin frend; iss nice when THE birdiess come back! Not so much antss tho’!! EEKKKK!
Mee takess a momint of silence inn memoree of Slippur………………………………………………………
May Slippur run free inn Purr Land with Chess an yore guy’s other 4 leggedsss.
Have a guud walk Mani…hope you do not get rained on!
***purrsss*** BellaDharma
An yore chicks an henss are furabuluss!!
Thanks; the guy I live with has told me stories about Slipper, like how he chewed the wood on the patio cover when he got excited, and things like that. He got really sick but the guy I live with enjoys being a caregiver to purebred border collies, so I guess I’m lucky in that respect too. Ants are important here; they disperse seeds of snowdrops, crocuses, and cyclamen, all over the garden. That process is called myrmecochory. A cool word, huh. It’s a beautiful day here, today. Sunny and dry.
I love your semps. I have several different ones and I wondered if the guy you live with knows the name of the semps in the forth semp picture? They have a really nice color and shape.
Thanks; I think that really nice one is called ‘Café’. I guess they are kind of addictive since there are so many shapes and colors, and they need almost nothing from the gardener.
Yes they are super easy to grow here and look great in all seasons. Plus you can plant the chicks and have more plants. Its a really great investment(-: Thanks for the info I am going to check those out on that website.(-:
You’re welcome. There might be other sites selling them but this is the one he orders from.
Sampson the doberman, here. The lady I live with has every hen and chick variety that lives in Seattle. If she sees a new one, she grabs it to see if it will winter. There’s plenty of room for them in the tall rockery. I have to climb all over it to scare away the squirrels. The lady I live with is unreasonably happy because some painted daisy seeds she planted in 2016 finally made flowers. I can attest that they’re easy to knock over. She’s been weeding so she took out the tiny fences that let me know I’m supposed to jump over stuff. I took a nap on a carnation the other day. She didn’t say a word, so I guess that means I can do it again?
Well….I didn’t want to mention this, but I got into a huge amount of trouble the other day when I smashed a bunch of Madonna lilies while I was chasing a squirrel. The guy I live with said stuff. Then I got a lecture. It didn’t last long, though. So maybe it is okay.
Dogs should last as long as people do. Some people last way too long. I miss Privet and Bill (Willow) so much. Well, you have likely heard of how that goes for people who miss their departed friends.
Yes, well, the guy I live with says we are pretty comfortable with our ghosts, here.