the last couple of days have been beautiful-perfect gardening weather. i played hookey yesterday for a few hours from the “must do” list and gardened. i set out some flats of petunias, divided the geraniums, planted sunflower seed, weeded and pruned. pruning is my least favorite thing to do-however my husband and i have an “understanding”. the saying opposites attract is true in my marriage of 26 years in many areas-the garden is one. my husband likes neat angles, flat hedges,  squared corners. if it were up to him there would not be a trailing fern or vine in sight. fortunately we have come to this “understanding”- he has free reign to prune away in fall, he can prune to his hearts content on the lady banks rose on the deck anytime-as well as the honeysuckle on the front wall. he can tackle the trumpet vine – it’s open season (which i will swear grows a few inches overnight).  all of these wear him out and he eventually gives up in disgust. i am in charge of all the roses. i have a lot- i am a big fan of old roses, which grow to towering heights if not contained. cecile brunner is a personal favorite- she is now in her first bloom of the year.  i see beauty-my husband sees a mess-ah well. i am happy to prune in a few weeks-little does he know it will encourage a second spectacular bloom! 

when going through my collection of antique tintypes i came across masie. she was in a intricate paper frame-sadly torn and stained-with “masie 1884-1897″ written on the back in pencil. i wonder if her short childhood was a happy one-i hope so. just in case -i gave her a garden to enjoy now.