We have been spending the last two weeks with my son's family, who live about two hours away, helping to care for our new granddaughter. Our daughter-in-law had four months of maternity leave, due to expire on June 1. Upon checking with the day care she arranged last November (with confirmatory email in hand) she was told that her application had "slipped through the cracks" and there was no place for the baby until August. Crisis!!! Several tense phone calls resulted in a place opening in July, but that left June to be covered by someone else, so the grandparents stepped up. It was interesting to be immersed in infant care... babies are little so briefly, but what devourers of time and energy they are! We enjoyed experiencing this stage of life again. The baby is a bright, smiling child (whew) that made all the myriad tasks a pleasure. What a blessing to watch her grow!
Having abandoned our house during a peak growing period, we came back to find a tangle of weeds and the evidence of a big wind. It took a full day to tidy the circle garden and planters and sweep the terrace.
While we were gone our fierce rose came into its first bloom. Its name is "Tropical Lightning" and it is always a bit of a phenomenon. It is a climber ( I envisioned it growing sweetly against the garage, perhaps draping gracefully across the siding) that grows from monstrous canes with giant thorns. It produces garish yellow and orange buds that mature into rose, peach and white striped flowers that then age to ivory and purple. All these colors are present together on this lavish bush that reminds me of a tiger. It is intimidating and not always pretty, but a source of great energy in that corner of the garden. Oddly, its fragrance is not aggressive, but light and fruity like Juicy Fruit gum. It is good to be home.