growing stuff

After spending yesterday in Chicago for a fine, fine phd exam (and also, while there, trying out a prit-tee delicious vegetarian restaurant), I was a wee bit restless today. Just didn't feel like settling in to work. Maybe it was the nearly 70 degree weather. So I read some advisee writing, worked on one of my RSA presentations for a little while, ordered some new summery shoes, answered a ton of email, did some light gardening, took the dogs for a run. At least three times today, not including the time I was gardening, I went outside to look at the spinach growing in our garden. I swear it grew today.

When JM got home, we got on the internet and ordered moss. Our front yard is so shady that neighbors think our white house is gray. Of course grass won't grow, and although in early spring before the leaves return  and with them the thick, thick shade, there are nice flowers, not much else is there. OK, strike that. Everything that will grow in shade is there, and I'm not a fan of hostas. So we're going to try some combination of brick walks and moss. From what we've read, moss will love our front yard. It's environmentally friendly, and it makes me think of when I was a kid, sliding on slimy, moss-covered rocks at horse creek. And in the fall, the busiest time of year around these parts, we are going to cover it with a net to catch leaves, just like the guy in the article.