Garden of Galadriel

I know I probably should have saved my money (I'm pretty broke), but I bought an orchid today. It's the first red orchid I've ever seen; red is my favorite color. I couldn't resist. I've put her on my dining table for the moment, but I've never grown this kind of orchid before. I hope I don't kill her. I have had an orchid fatality in the last two years: my dark pink phalaenopsis Mary Magdalen shriveled up a year and a half ago.



The only bouquet I took a picture of this week is on my coffee table, of pink roses, snapdragons, purple sage flowers, and some yellow shrub leaves. Partner picked a nice bouquet of sweet peas and daisies for the bathroom as well, and it smells lovely up there. My new orchid also has a gentle fragrance, surprisingly.

I've got the week off from work, as does Partner, and we've been going out a lot. I like to go walking in the mornings, before ten if possible, and the dog has started to expect it. When I come down in the morning she starts quivering and whining at me. Then when the leash comes out she jumps as high as my shoulder and does her best to contain her barking (if she barks I put the leash back until she stops), though she does make these peculiar yawning noises, which would probably be woofs if she moved her doggy lips during them. We go out as quickly as possible, so as to avoid as much noise as possible, and while I hold her at my side, because polite doggies do not walk ahead on the leash, she pulls me up the street as hard as she can, so hard that she can barely breathe. Yet when she gets off the leash, she always stays in sight of me, and if she thinks I'm lost she runs back to check on me. It's funny to see her up on her hind legs wildly straining to look over the tall grass to find me.