Hay allergy memories

The begonias two months ago. Julie got the begonias and Shanna the vincas. The vincas were planted within a week. The begonias? Well I felt sorry for them and finally planted them today

I gave identical hanging baskets to them at the same time. Within a week, one was dead due to lack of water. The other is holding its own

Allie today

Yesterday I was riding my bike out in the country. A hay truck past by with bits of hay flying off of it inducing watery, itchy eyes for me. I am not allergic to much but hay dust will make me cry. It reminded me of a time when I was 13 going on a hayride as part of a church picnic. I wore a bright turquoise sweatshirt, recently purchased from some bargain bin that in bright green letters said:

PUSSY GALORE

I had no idea  what "Pussy Galore" meant beyond being a character in the recently released Goldfinger. (the guy who played Goldfinger was a dead ringer for my father. Over the years, he was asked for his autograph). Now I am sure these days every 13 year old knows what a pussy is (beyond a cute name for a cat) but no internet, no sex filled TV shows. Also a clueless mother who had no idea what a pussy could mean so she bought the sweatshirt for me without a thought.

But one of the church ladies knew and started lecturing me on inappropriate clothes and shame on me....blah, blah, blah.
The worst part of the experience though, was the hayride itself. I had just discovered make up and applied it with a very heavy hand. No more blonde eyelashes! I went for the "Carnaby Look" ala Twiggy and Jean Shrimpton. Black eyeliner, white lips, coats and coats of mascara. However, there was hay. The eyes started tearing dissolving the eyeliner which dripped  into my eyes causing burning. I tried as long as possible not to rub but I eventually did leading to huge black splotches for eyes. Oh and there were boys there too. Not the look I was going for.

For the past 3 days, we have been watching Allie as her 'school' is closed yet again. Yesterday Naomi and Maya took my place as I agreed to accompany someone to their colonoscopy (I did my bike ride nervously as Steve was not around to rescue me in case of a flat..I never went more than 5 miles from our house, as far as I am willing to walk, but went 20 miles total). Today we were relieved at noon by Julie's mom. Steve hadn't mentioned that I was going to be there too (I ran for an hour before getting there) and I think Julie was nervous that Steve appeared to be watching Allie by himself (he is certainly capable of doing so. He is very good with babies, the younger the better). I did have a nice run due to the temperature and humidity being very low. And I finally planted those begonias I had given almost 2 months ago (no more plant gifts!!!!). I had brought my own trowel. I am surprised they were still alive (very, very, dry). However, the area I planted them had less than an inch of top soil under lots of mulch and underneath that, gravel. Josh's father-in-law helped him plant some bushes 3 months ago. I assumed they would have put more than one bag of topsoil down but no. Those bushes will not survive long. The whole area will need to be done if he wants anything to live.

Also we were supposed to be feeding Allie half an avocado a day, which we did not due to it being a pain to dice it up to suitable pieces and Allie makes quite a mess with it. I guess avocados are the new baby food. I did it today though due to the negative feedback we received.

The end of summer. Sigh.

I am actually 15 here but you can see the eyeliner and white lips