wedding pics, mini bouquets, bird skull report and other miscellania

Also the weekend Vickie was here we were going through some of the old photo albums Pam had that were still here for her to look through to see if she wanted any of the pictures. Everyone else had gone through them previously except for me and Vickie and much to my surprise there were a couple of pictures of me in my wedding dress from the first time I got married. There was also a picture of my first husband, a profile view, who my daughter had never seen a picture of. Is that him she asked me. I had a small photo album of pictures from my first wedding which I had kept because it had pictures of my friends from the year I lived in Chicago while going to the Chicago Art Institute and was living with my ex and who had all come down to Texas for our wedding. It disappeared at some point while my kids were growing up but not because I discarded it. 

Anyway, I’ve mentioned before that I made my dress. I had wanted shirred sleeves which have a line of gathers from the shoulder to the hem of the sleeve. I couldn’t find a pattern for that so I just sort of created my own. I also made the macrame choker and my ex made the pendant that hangs from it. I think the flowers were probably fake since this was the formal picture that was published in the paper so it was taken before the wedding. I don’t remember if the flowers were real at the wedding and I also had a wreath of flowers on my head instead of a veil. I don’t look happy because I wasn’t. I was only getting married to get out from under the thumb of my father, about the only way women could back then, and I already knew that I would divorce him one day since no fault divorce had recently been made legal. Marrying a guy I was already detaching from seemed infinitely better than remaining at home at the time. My divorce was final 3 and 1/2 years later but the last eight months or so we were not living together. So here’s the picture.

And just to show the difference in my first fancy wedding and my second casual one five years later here’s my wedding picture from it, which I've posted before, the one that has lasted. We were already a little tipsy by the time his dad got around to taking pictures. That's beer in our champagne glasses.

Sunday, Audra, my grandson Mikey’s SO, came over with Paisleigh and Harrison while Mikey worked on a vehicle over at the shop so I didn’t get as much done as I planned, mostly just hauling Saturday’s debris over to the burn pile and then after they left, starting on the big pink rose bush and made it halfway through that. Paisleigh picked two little bouquets of henbit, oxalis, wild onion flowers, dandelions, and anemone and insisted on putting them in the ‘peacock’. She was happy with the little vases so I guess that’s what she meant.

The goldfinches arrived en masse this weekend. I had seen a few earlier in the week but now they are hogging the bird feeder. Last week I unearthed the white wing dove skull but what with all the cold weather the ants hadn’t made much progress. I couldn’t find it just digging around so I had to hose down the ant bed to find it. I let it lay on top of the ground as I was busy doing other stuff reminding myself to stick it back in another ant bed before I went in for the day and of course I forgot. The next morning I went out to look for it and could not find it, even hosing the area down again. Some creature got it during the night…a snake, possum, or raccoon; a snake or possum most likely. I’ve had that happen before so I was rightly pissed at myself. But then the next day I went out to look again and there it was in plain sight. It is now snugged in another fire ant mound.

I had a dermatologist appointment Monday morning about a half hour away, a place I’ve been going to since before covid. I got there on time and all five chairs in the tiny waiting room were filled. When I was checking in at the desk I asked how long the wait was. The conversation went like this:

me: how long is the wait?

her: can’t say.

me: an hour?

her: can’t say.

me: if it’s over an hour I’d rather reschedule.

her: your choice but it will be the same.

me: then why do you overbook?

her: we don’t overbook.

me: if it’s over an hour wait, you’re overbooking.

her: that’s your opinion.

me: I’ve been here many times and never had to wait more than about 15 minutes.

her: the person you see is on maternity leave and we have someone else.

I scheduled another appointment for next week but I’m going to call back in a few days and find out when their earliest appointment is and reschedule for that. I don’t care if I have to wait a month. I'll wait over an hour or longer for certain doctors, ones who perform surgeries that may have unavoidable delays for various reasons or emergencies, but I’m not waiting over an hour for a dermatology appointment especially when there is no place to sit. And really, why the fuck does having a fill-in dermatologist cause there to be a big back up??

After I got back I finished pruning the big pink rose bush in the back so now all that’s left in my yard is the rest of the wild petunias and the rock rose, both of which will be quick, and the banana trees which will be a major chore. And then, oh goodie, I get to start on Pam’s/shop yard…her roses, the morning glory bush, the pink trumpet flower, the rangoon creeper, the yellow bells, the hummingbird bush, the confederate rose, the white orchid tree/bush, the purple orchid tree/bush which has never bloomed because it freezes to the fucking ground every winter, and the banana trees.

But all that will have to wait as it’s raining today so maybe I’ll start on the zucchini on my painting which I’ve been avoiding because, yard work, but also because it sort of intimidates me. Getting started, putting that first stroke or wash down, is always the hardest part.