Planted some seeds in the planter today. I haven’t done that in the last couple of years because Spud:

is a lawnmower. He cuts down everything in his path.

But I devised a ‘Spudguard.’

I cut the bottom off of some plastic vegetable trays, loosened the soil, planted the seeds, put the Spudguard in place and used chopsticks to hold them in place. We’ll see how they hold up. I used crunched leaves to mulch them to keep them from drying out between waterings.

I planted some mini peppers:

I was amused to see that some of them were dyed red. I suppose that is a simple way to tell what color the peppers on the parent plant were.

I have to clear a five foot section of the planter to get at a sprinkler that needs to be converted to drip and to remove a bramble that I let grow hoping for berries. BIG mistake. If you don’t know what it is, pull it up or it will try to colonize. And that bramble has wicked thorns.

It’s peaceful out there at dusk. Most of the kids have gone in and even the birds are quiet.

I’ve been trying to clean up the vines on the wall. I kind of hate to do it; they provide hiding places for the lizards. I try to leave the dead leaves some spots. Got to leave them some cover if I want them to stay.

Here’s an excerpt:

A San Francisco cable car holds 60 people. This blog was viewed about 1,300 times in 2011. If it were a cable car, it would take about 22 trips to carry that many people.

Click here to see the complete report.

My sister sent me this video. I really, really think it’s a good idea.

And then I figured it out. I didn’t want to go to the graveyard. I don’t need anything to remind me that Dad isn’t here. I miss him every day.

I gritted my teeth and went anyway. Stood at his grave, thinking about him. Feeling the loss all over again.

It was still nice to be with family. And interesting to see how many other people put decorations on the graves. From a pot of poinsettia all the way up to fully decorated trees.

Mom thought to make five of them. Which is just a little ambitious. But I have been trying to get hers done before Christmas. I work on them for a couple of hours each evening while we watch television. Though I’ve been making progress, it’s time to step up the pace. Here’s hoping I can actually manage to get it done.