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The rose book recommends mulching the area surrounding the roses to keep down weeds. (The mulch is not to go on the soil directly beneath the rose). In contrast, the neighborhood rose lady says do not mulch the area surrounding the roses. I am a lazy weeder and listened to the book instead of listening to the rose lady.

First, I laid down six sheets of newspaper and then piled the mulch on top of it. I wet this down to hold it in place. Newspapers make a good weed barrier until they break down. I started this process in the front yard and without thinking, continued it into the backyard.

While I was working in the backyard, I put Blaze inside. There are moments in my life when I know two different things, but I have yet to consider how they relate to one another. This was one of those times. I knew that Blaze loves to snatch up, shred, and eat paper, and I knew that I was putting newspaper down under the mulch. However, those two bits of knowledge stayed in their separate parts of my brain.

I came in, Blaze went out. Blaze investigated the landscaping changes. To his great joy, there was a gap in some mulch and underneath he discovered a great treasure. After awhile, I glanced out the window and watched Blaze dancing around the yard with a section of shredded newspaper in his mouth and the remains of more newspaper scattered across the yard waiting to get eaten.

The two things I knew were now correlated.

Sometimes when my task is something that can be interrupted 50 times by pushy requests to be petted or to throw the ball, I keep Blaze outside in the backyard with me. Pruning is one of these tasks. He is always glad to assist in pruning. I will prune a branch and toss it to the side. He will pick up the branch and chew it for awhile to make sure it is good and pruned. Sometimes, he reaches in to help me and bites off a branch himself to speed me along in the process.

I had finished the pruning and while walking by the pond, noticed the water plant I had bought for Dale was covered in black slime. We had trouble last year with our water plants getting black and slimy, so I thought, “Maybe the old pot of pond soil has contaminated it. I’ll just pull out the plant, dump out the pond soil, and set the plant back in the pond until I can get a clean pot with clean soil.”

What I should have thought was “Blaze is watching me.”

I dug out the plant which was in a net sack of rocks and dropped it into the pond. I picked the pot of pond soil up and carried it out of the yard to dump it. When I returned, there was Blaze dancing and prancing about. He was having a great time playing with his new fetch toy aka Dale’s water plant.

My second creature who thinks she is wild is named Patches. I have many pretty flowers in my yard that I used to cut and bring in to admire. Occasionally, I still do during a rare moment when I forget about Patches. Two days ago, I cut a white Iris that had fallen over and placed it in a vase of water on the table. I drove the kids to school while Patches bided her time. For Patches timing is everything.

Upon my return, just prior to unlocking the door, I heard a thump and opened the door to discover the vase knocked over, water pouring off the table, and Patches admiring it all. While cleaning up the mess, Patches sat on a nearby chair licking off the water from her paws.

Last Saturday, Zeke was supposed to be hauling shrub prunings. For this task, he decided he needed to carry around my foam kneeler. “In case I need to sit down,” he informed me. At one point, he carried it into the house and thought it would be a good idea to set the dirty foam kneeler on top of the kitchen table. When I came in to get some water, there sat Patches proudly perched atop her new foam kneeler waiting to pounce.

Last night, I stripped the sheets off the bed and had one corner fitted when suddenly Patches appeared and pounced under the new clean sheet. There are times when I ignore her and complete making the bed with her trapped inside. She always manages to find a way out, but last night I wasn’t in the mood. I chased her off.

Irritated with this outcome, she immediately ran under my bed and threw up on the carpet.