Our dining table is covered in pieces of paper that have to be dealt with before I leave town, but aside from that, things are starting to feel under control around here. Or almost under control. I'm loving the summer mornings in our new place; all the windows and doors are open onto the terraces, and the cool breeze is the perfect accompaniment to a morning cup of tea and the ritual Watering of the Plants. I admit that there's a small part of me that worries that all these new plants will take up more time than I have, but I'm trying to think of the watering as a meditation, a quiet moment in the day, before the madness descends. So far, so good.
I'm not sure I told y'all what the upshot of the whole pergola discussion was -- we got some estimates, and were a little shocked to find that it'd cost upwards of $6000 to build a pergola on our rooftop deck. Instead, we have purchased a very nice freestanding gazebo, at 40% off, and I think it will look lovely. We're keeping an eye out for clearance garden furniture now, though it's certainly not the most urgent furniture purchase. My roses arrived yesterday, and I am eager to get them potted, so at some point today, we'll stop at a garden store and pick up some containers. The tentative plan is to plant three climbing roses (gold, licorice-scented) and three clematis (dark red) at three corners of the gazebo, and a hybrid tea (dark red) at the fourth corner, and then plant bedding roses in the pots as well, for a veritable explosion of color and delight. In theory, at any rate. Any tips on planting bare-root roses would be appreciated. I've already done the 'soaking roots overnight in water' part.
A lot of the other furniture purchasing (which sucks up disgusting amounts of exhausting time) has proceeded in fits and starts; our tv-watching chair is not going to arrive until September, for example, and so there is not likely to be much tv-watching this summer, which may be just as well. Kevin's study is still entirely unfurnished, though we did manage to find a rug, a large mirror, and a bedframe for our bedroom, so some progress *is* being made. The saga of the bookcase has been particularly long and painful, involving a frustrating almost purchase from 57th Street that was foiled at the last second by the University of Chicago deciding they needed 1500 custom bookcases first. Damn them. But we're almost certainly going to go with the Room and Board Woodwind series (86" high), of which three should fit very nicely into the space needed. Much of our frustration has come from having 9 ft. ceilings and wanting to get our shelves as close to those ceilings as possible (because you *know* we're going to need every inch of space). A remarkable number of bookshelves out there are barely taller than me. What were these people thinking??!!
Today, I'm meeting another writer for lunch downtown at noon; I'll swing by Roosevelt and drop off a copy of my book for the department, and renew Kevin's car registration. I also need to print out, fill out, and file DesiLit's Articles of Incorporation, so that I can open up a business bank account and deposit our grant check which just arrived. But before all that, I'm hoping to actually do some writing again, finish the draft of that story for AE 2. I know, actually *writing* -- it's a shocking thought, but if I sneak up on the writing, maybe...
Bare-root roses need to be cut back, way back, to keep the amount of top growth down until the roots have a chance to grow. I cut mine back to about 5 inch stubs, and often it is not quite enough. Some quarter strength Miracle Grow (or generic equivalent) would be good for watering in early days.
The reason most bookcases are short is people don’t use them for books. They are for displaying knick-knacks. The top should not be too high, or it is not useful.
Moral: Sell your boooks and buy knick-knacks.
REH
Heh. I am not sure I agree with your moral, but I appreciate the advice. They actually came already cut back to stumps, so they look a bit sad, but hopefully that will change soon.