Iris and Saving Shoes

Written last Tuesday

One iris has bloomed, one of the pale lavender ones, and a pink one is ready to burst open. I love iris. We had them in places we lived as a child. Mama loved flowers. We had dozens in our first house. But, when we sold it and moved away, we lived in rental houses for a few years and she never planted any at those houses. Still, there were always a few.

Today, Tuesday, I was rummaging through an old change purse, looking to see what was in it. I found an old KFC coupon for $10 worth of food. This is one I paid $6 to purchase back in January. Usually, these are used for lunch or dinner when exbf is visiting. But, now I use them for when I am sick or exhausted. I was neither today; I just wanted KFC once I found it. While $6 is an expensive lunch for one, it would have been thrifty for two people.

Thursday

Four more iris in bloom.

Exbf came today. I got more sleep than I usually do before he comes. We drove around the lake, looking at the flowers blooming and through a neighborhood that always has lovely azaleas. I hate it when people prune azaleas into balls or square forms!

Lunch was chicken spicy chicken strips on a hotdog bun with leaf lettuce and tomatoes, mustard for him, Miracle Whip for me. He had pineapple.  This was such an easy meal.  

I felt so awful as the day went on that I did not cook what I intended to cook. So, for dinner I put four patties made from ground sirloin, 90% lean/10% fat with onion soup mix over them and onion and potatoes in the same pan, cooking them in the oven. It was delicious, but I suffered greatly from having had beef. Next time, I need to put a little water in the pan. We had Jello/fruit cocktail/apple. Fresh corn on the cob never made it to the stove. The carrots for the carrot raisin salad never made it out of the refrigerator.

His left shoe has holes in the sole. These shoes are practically new, so they needed to be saved. He has trouble walking and never gets his left foot off the ground, just drags it along as he uses two canes or a walker. They will be good to go on Saturday night.  So, we are saving him a bit of money by mending shoes.

I put the Shoe Goo on the sole with a plastic spoon and sort of glued down the flaps that were ripped loose on the sole. At first the little flaps kept popping up. I just used the plastic spoon to keep pushing them down dozens of time. This seemed futile, but then they stayed down. After working with the Shoe Goo for about ten minutes, all of a sudden, the flaps stayed flat and I could no longer smear it around.

Taking a chance, I touched it with a finger. HARD!  Then, I put my hand on it and showed him. I was going to put his shoes in a plastic bag for him to carry home and was glad to know he would not arrive home with the plastic bag stuck to the shoe. I suppose I will need to do this often to save these shoes. He has had them less than six months. His feet, diabetic feet, were getting wet. !!! I know, I know. He will not listen.

I was rushing all day long it seemed in order to get him home for a conference call. When he arrived at home, there was a message that the call was cancelled. ugh!

It was 80 degrees and sunshine and blue skies on Thursday.

Friday
I patched a hole in shoe soles I wear outside when it is rainy or muddy. Holes don't work with shoes.  I did little else today because I was still exhausted from Thursday. Today it was 79 F. Tomorrow is supposed to be a stormy day, possibly with tornadoes.

Lone Survivor: Yellow Iris

This week

Last year, I saw a friend/acquaintance of 30 years. She worked in a place where I often saw her. We became acquainted through a foundation she created. She was that kind of friend, a little closer than an acquaintance.

She was sitting on a bench at Walmart, holding tightly to her purse which was sitting in the cart full of items, all paid for. When I went over and spoke, she brightened, and I sat down. She greeted me warmly and asked me who I was, hastening to explain she was blind.

It seemed she had moved in with her daughter after falling twice. I told her how I admired her yellow iris all down the property line that separated her from a church parking lot. Mowers had taken them down over the years, she said. Yes, I noticed there were few.

When I asked permission to dig a few bulbs, she just asked that I not take them all. I promised.

last year

Above is all I had to work with. I had my trusty shovel and went to work. You know how my back, shoulder and knee need surgery? You see the iris are at the base of a tree? Remember roots? I was killing myself when one of the church members headed my way, all tight-lipped. We both spoke cheery "hellos" while preparing to take each other down..lol.

I was determined to state my case and not take any lip at all. No sirree! I was not going to suffer the indignity of being dressed down, even wrongly. Especially wrongly.  "Maureen (not her name) told me I could take a few of her bulbs when I saw her in Walmart. It's too hot to be digging, wouldn't you say?" The woman relaxed immediately and agreed and headed back to the church after a bit more small talk, just like she only came over to say "hello." I never for a moment got defensive, letting her think I knew I was a suspect in flower-napping.  Besides, I would be stupid to choose Wednesday night, right at Bible Study time with a dozen or more cars already there.

I brought my bulbs home in a small plastic bag and put them outside the door on the ground. Of course, I forgot them right there. The hens found the bag and were relentless in their scratching and pecking. In all honesty, I think I may have thrown crumbs on the bag a couple of times. After that, the hens got the rhizomes and scratched them so they had them thrown all over the yard. I gathered the precious rhizomes again. Of course, who knew they had a thing for throwing rhizomes? I gave up. Did you know they can scratch/kick/scratch one over ten feet? Of course, I had cut all but an inch from the tops.

After digging and a little chopping

About three weeks ago, I was shocked to find in the middle of the yard a rhizome with two little triangular green peeps less that 1/4 inch long. HA! I snatched it up and put dirt in the nearest plastic pot. I plopped the rhizome on it's side and covered with more dirt, about three inches. When I watered it well, it was showing a bit, just right. And did it ever grow!

This one is a beginning if a bed/patch of yellow iris. Yep, it's sad, but beautiful. I need to walk the side yard and poke around in the flower bed to see if any other rhizomes are surviving. I tried to explain what a rhizome looked like to exbf who was still clueless. Finally, I told him it would be white and lumpy, sort of like a root, but blunt.

I wish I had iris in every color, but I only have lavender and this one yellow.

Curiously, the hens have never scratched up the few lavender iris. Wonder why? Loose ones are like toys?

Your turn

Have your hens ever turned your rhizomes into a game? Have they been obsessive about thwarting your gardening attempts?.