Boy, did that tree grow!

Here's the story.  Last week, I went to Benke's (local garden shop) and bought a Japanese maple.  It's a lovely tree, although very small. The leaves are red when they are new, then green and red and then green with white veins.  When I got it planted, it looked even smaller and just didn't look right in the front yard.  It only grows a few inches a year.  I figured I'd be dead and gone before it got to be 6 foot tall.  Because it is so small, with leaves near the ground, I was afraid our resident ground hog would eat it.  I put a decorative 'fence' around it, hoping that would keep critter out.

Fast forward to Saturday.  Patty and I had a fun day - went to a yard sale, an antique store, and on the way home, stopped at a garden center.  They had lovely Japanese maples - really tall ones - for very reasonable prices.  I just couldn't resist.  I bought one that is almost feet tall!  Patty helped me plant it.  It looks so much better in the yard than the first one did.  The leaves are green with pink and white edges.  And that first tree is now in a pot on the deck.  Since it only grows a few inches a year, it should be fine in the pot for many years to come.  I'm really happy with the larger tree out front, but am probably confusing my neighbors as to just what I planted!

This was a busy weekend for me.  Yesterday, we had another book sale at church.  We usually don't have them close together, but we were culling out old books from the library and voted to try to sell them, rather than just donate them to a thrift shop.  I had to leave before the sale was over, so don't know how many sold.  I doubt if we did as well as we usually do, but every dollar we make goes toward buying new books.


I left the book sale right after church because we were doing a Raku firing at Montpelier Arts Center.  I got there about 1 PM and did manage to get three of my pieces fired. (I'll post photos in tomorrow's blog.)  I had one more to fire, but I was meeting my friend Deb for dinner, so had to head home around 5:30 PM.

Deb and I went to a fondue restaurant in Columbia.  I think it's called The Melting Pot.  I'd never eaten there and didn't realize that it was a bit on the fancy/expensive side.  However, we didn't spend all that much.  We ate traditional cheese fondue, salad and chocolate fondue for dessert.  All the food was very good!  We even had a glass of wine each.  I just hope Deb didn't fall asleep on the way home!  She lives in southern Maryland, so had a somewhat long drive.

It was a productive weekend and a lot of fun, but I was very tired by the time I got home from dinner.   And here we are, beginning another week. Most of my plants are in pots or in the ground now, but there are a few still waiting.  It's supposed to rain for the next 6 days!  Lucky us!