Hello From the Grave?

62°f/16.7°C, raining in the morning, afternoon partly cloudy and very humid. Now, at 6pm, a big storm is blowing in. It rained while the sun was shining this morning, a sure sign of rain again tomorrow.

Well, apparently I am dead. I died on December 23, 1996, so who has been writing this blog and living with my husband I do not know. 

At least, according to the Veterans Administration,  that's when I died. And I have been collecting a "dependent's benefit" ever since. Which they want to stop paying. 

I was pretty surprised by this news as I feel very much alive, and I must be the hardest-workibg ghost around.

Of course, this is probably the work of DOGE, who evidently can't even spell my name properly or double check the Social Security number before concluding I'm deceased. A quick call to a VA rep has started the process of correcting this stupidity and restoring me to life. The only not-funny part of this is the stress it causes Larry, who gets very upset about things like this. He's got good reason because these messes can be a bear to straighten out. So I will deal with it, and continue to joke about it for the sake of his nerves. Such things don't shorten my stride much, they're just an aggravation.

Up until we picked up the mail, we had had a good day. I took a tote to our Ripley booth and worked in rearranging our stock while Larry went downtown and got a haircut. We stopped for Taco Tuesday lunch at our friend Shari's store and visited with a few friends there. Then Larry picked up a few things at the grocery store while I checked out Goodwill.  Back home to get thst crazy letter, which I dealt with while he repaired a flat tire on the mower. I planted the rose bush he gave me for Mothers Day, fertilized the garden--all this rain is washing away nutrients, I fear--and generally puttered around in the flowerbeds.

The herb garden is coming along. Still need mulch for the upper bank.

This canna patch self-seeded here, and has spread out this year.

Mexican primrose also self-seeded into this flowerbed. The yellow-green plant is spiderwort, aka radiation plant because the blue flowers supposedly turn pink if there is radiation in the air.

A new peony opened today. I planted this one three years ago and had to baby it along but it's thriving now.

We bought replacement picket fence last week, to put where the tree crushed the old fence. I have to wait a few months to paint or stain it because it's treated wood.

Now we are watching a big storm move in. Much thunder and lightning and wind but so far just light rain. I hope it stays like this, as we can do without gullywashers. In a nearby town the streets are full of water. 

Fingers crossed that the power stays on!

Copyright Susanna Holstein. All rights reserved. No Republication or Redistribution Allowed without attribution to Susanna Holstein.