By Jan Penton Miller

Columnist

My new boss, Winnie, lies contentedly in a sunny spot on her blanket surrounded by toys of all shapes and colors. Hopefully, she will use these to chew on instead of gnawing on the furniture. So far this morning she has licked me awake, helped me read my Bible, supervised my gardening chores, and taken me along on her morning walk. Life with a new puppy is busy, but also keeps me closer to home.

We all know that it takes a lot of time to keep up with household chores so a little extra time not running the roads has helped me to do some catching up. It seems I always have organizing to do. I guess if I put things away where they belong instead of getting in a hurry I would not need to organize as often. Ya think?

My flowerbeds were looking okay, but not their absolute best, before my exile from rambling occurred. Now, I can see that the extra care they have received lately has made a huge difference.

  Instead of tisk tisking at my flowers lack of performance as I put old nelly in gear, I have been at home with extra time to deadhead, weed, water, and fertilize more frequently. Even though I have always loved gardening I am amazed at the dividends the extra love has shown. The colors of the leaves are much more vibrant and everything is in full bloom.

 I was so happy with my front flowerbeds’ performance that I added another one. More work I know, but I’ll try to add perennials to the mix to cut down on replanting each year. There is something very satisfying about watching plants coming back year after year when the seasons change.  

Summertime in the southland is wonderful for so many reasons, but the heat is already getting pretty intense. It’s not a wonderful thing for your air conditioning to have problems, but that is exactly what we are dealing with today. Thankfully, our trusty friend and repairman has us on his schedule for this afternoon. Our unit is only a couple of years old so we were surprised when it quit cooling very well. Hopefully, it is still under warranty.

This reminds me of another Winnie story. She gets me up in the night to take a potty break and wakes me up super early so I catch a wink whenever I can. I was reading on the sofa with her asleep at my feet when my book almost slipped from my hands for the second time. I decided to close my eyes for just a minute. 

From somewhere far away a rustling, crackling sound permeated my napping brain. When I slowly opened my peepers after what seemed only a few moments I found my new glasses being used as a chew toy! Did I get insurance on them? Oh, no. That would be pricey, I remember thinking at the time of purchase. Hindsight is always 20/20.