So, today Paul and I went over to Ellen's for a trip to the garden center. There is a gigantic center west of her house about 15 minutes, about 35 minutes from our house, but well worth the drive. Lots of selection, decent prices. Friends of Ellen's tipped her off to the center. People at work had said they planned on spending Memorial Day gardening, and I guess so does most of New Jersey, as the center was packed. But you have to have a population base before you can have such marvelous shopping, and we took full advantage of it. In any event, we bought plants for an area outside of Ellen's new back yard fence - went back to her house and planted them. The area looks great and I'm really looking forward to seeing how the area develops over the season and the next few years. The bottom photos are of lovely iris, blooming now, in Ellen's yard. The plants are ready to be divided - I told her I'll be over this fall to divide the plants, and steal some of the corms for myself!

Tomorrow, I'll take photos of my garden again. It is fully planted, but since it is mainly vegetables, noting much going on now in some of the raised beds, although the radishes and some of the lettuce is coming up. A neighbor did stop me and tell me the gardens look nice, which I find a bit surprising, since it is so early. She's probably just pleased to see someone doing something positive with the space.

I'll probably go over to Ellen's for a barbecue on Memorial Day - who can turn down a visit with the grandkids? Then, on Tuesday, I'm off to the Catholic Press Association convention in Toronto, Canada. I'm so looking forward to it - seeing friends and attending workshops. There's a John Michael Talbot concert, one of my favorite Catholic singers. It is just a great break for me, and I love to travel.