Snipping the Weed from the Rose

 Clethra - they cost as little as a rose, last long and grow well, attract butterflies, and exude Cinnabon fragrance.

From high atop my perch on the front porch - several inches above the Rose Garden - I look for trouble. I am often surprised by the wonders of Creation, weak roses growing a perfect bloom.

I also look - not very hard - for weeds. We have some days of rain ahead, which I tried to ensure by watering the rose garden. It is a good time to strike out a few weeds. One was growing parallel with one of the long-term roses.

Mrs. Ichabod said, "Roses are on sale. QVC. $64 for 8, free shipping." That started the Rose Garden, and some continue to bloom.

The way I took out the weed was to snip each bit of growth at the soil level, then trim the rose a little. Weeds hate to be cut and roses love it, so the pruning shears are doubly useful - almost as if this was all planned at Creation.

That weed was adding to the soil and still is. I could do more weeding but a lot of the flowers grow together if they are long lasting. The Bee Balms and Joe Pye are so healthy and tall that Mrs. Gardener came over for a tour  - and left with a quadruple Veterans Honor rose.

The best Joe Pye is going to bloom at 8 feet tall, and the Bee Balms are waist and shoulder high. Now I have groups of plants crowding others.

Mrs. Gardener observed, "You need to lay down a pathway with paving stones." I said, "That has become a necessity. They grow up so fast."

Fortunately, the hardware stores want to unload equipment and extras in the beat-down heat-stroke weather of July in Arkansas. I pounce on things I might use and will use. I bought a concrete bird bath for a few dollars. A kiddie pool is $3 at the right time, later when the autumn winds eliminate the urge to splash around.

 Norma Boeckler created this Photofunia of a cat trying to touch the bird in a Norma Boeckler painting. I always have a cardinal couple in our yard, feeding and bathing.

Contradictory Indications

The bank opened its lobby again, so I went in and canceled a hacked debit card. Suddenly I learned I had been buying coffee beans on Amazon and some kind of fire protection ( as the bank statement claimed) yet those orders did not appear on Amazon.

They cooked a new card for me. I did not wear a mask, since the best ones are worthless. But the staff did. I said, "It is ironic to walk in and find the bankers wearing masks." They thought it was funny too.

But at the DMV this morning, most of the line wore masks (18 out of 20). I kept my fresh as a daisy until I walked into to government zone. We were all wearing masks and six feet apart. I was third in line for county taxes. When it moved forward, I moved an inch or two. The woman ahead of me sternly said, "You need to stay back on that line, six feet apart." I laughed. In a few minutes we were courting death, only three (3) feet part because the windows were closer together than the latest edict demanded.

I told the clerk, "I am 100% certified healthy." I pointed at my smiley sticker from H.O.G. (Highland Oncology Group) I have my temperature taken more often than a hypochondriac tenor at the opera. I will have it taken again as I enter the main building for H.O.G.

 This is the AAA version of the government and Wuhan Flu.