Benched

So my back is still twingy, and I've been officially benched by Mulch Boy until it stops being twingy. And so my remaining rocks sit in the backyard, waiting to be placed along the edges of TDCB to complete the project. I don't think I can describe how frustrated I am to be thisclose to finished and not be able to do anything about it.

As a result, I've had to find different ways to fill my leisure hours until I'm given the green light to play with my rocks. Yesterday after work, I decided the best way to avoid temptation was to not go home, but instead go the local garden center and ruminate about what might be best to plant in my new beds bordering TDCB.

Oh, I know what you're thinking, but I kept my hands firmly in my pockets and didn't buy a single thing. Yes, for once in my life, I'm really really REALLY trying to use common sense and PLAN before I buy. I did, however, have an enjoyable conversation with Gary, the retiree employee who loves ferns and was happy to describe the advantages of the different varieties (apparently some are essentially evergreen in this part of the world).

And so it was that after an hour or so of browsing and talking with Gary, I left without a single purchase. Mulch Boy was as shocked as I was.

My other strategy for avoiding the temptation to injure myself more has been to noodle around the Interwebs. In the process, I've found some new favorites and I thought I'd share.

• Grounded Design. I found myself here after following a link from Garden Rant (thank you, Susan Harris). And Susan describes better than I can why Thomas Rainer's blog is a must-read.
• Black Walnut Dispatch. I found this terrific local garden blog by following the link from Grounded Design's favorites, and now it's my current favorite garden blog. Mary Gray writes the way I wish I wrote, saying so many things I've thought but can't express as clearly (or often hilariously) as she does. She's been around since last November, so you can easily read her entire archive in an hour and be all caught up. Since she lives down the road from me, I'm hoping we're going to become BFFs and go shopping at the garden center together.
• Bad Machinery on Scary Go Round. Not a gardeny site. This is a web comic that follows a bunch of English schoolkids on their various mystery-solving adventures. That may not sound interesting, but it's funny and full of quirky fantasy-type elements, and you will recognize and love John Allison's characters. Well, I do, anyway. To start at the beginning, go here.