Flower Friday. : : Clematis Montana

We began the day with a bath for Ozzie and I’ve been on the go all day. I had a nice talk with my Pilates teacher, a good class and coffee after with Bob and Gail and OilMan who has figured out how to enjoy the coffee without going to the class.

My friend Fran and I went to Sonoma where she was looking for some outdoor furniture. We found a Fermob bench in a nice moss green for her garden. I have a Fermob chair on the front porch which I love, but learned, to my dismay, that its paprika orange color has been discontinued. The woman in the store protested to Fermob that it was their most popular color, but apparently it is a British company and the color wasn’t a big seller in Britain.

There will be an Ironman Triathalon in Sonoma County this weekend. The roads are more crowded than usual with Lycra clad cyclists in clipety clop shoes (Tim’s term), and I found myself driving home from coffee at the pace of a snail behind a small peloton. There was nothing I could do except trail along behind them for several miles as there are no shoulders or bike lanes on country roads .

Roads throughout the county will be closed on Saturday for the race. It was nice to read that several dozen volunteers, in town to participate, volunteered yesterday to help clean up Mark West Springs Creek which suffered a lot of fire damage and has still not recovered. It definitely eases tension and road rage to know that participants are willing to pitch in and help out. I don’t know how anybody manages to survive an Ironman and I certainly wouldn’t be spending my lead up time hauling burned trees and boulders out of creeks!

I went by our neighbors’ house to water some of her plants, which I have been doing while they are on vacation. I couldn’t resist taking a picture of the opulent clematis growing next to the deck. Walking back home through the field a little later, Ozzie chased a deer, forgetting all about his arthritic elbow and weak back legs, and I surprised a wild turkey sitting on several eggs.

Did I mention that the sun came out today? Everyone’s mood seems to have elevated correspondingly.