Not much in the way of cohesive news to report. Sean and I went to my favorite local nursery today, because they were having a sale. Today, things were 40% off—tomorrow, they'll be 50% off. I made off with two enormous gardenias—each between three and four feet tall. They bloom white, and are in the middle of blooming right now.

Tomorrow morning, they will join the ranks of the other plants, large and small, in my front flowerbeds. Slowly but surely, the beds are taking shape.We're going back tomorrow to snoop around some more. With the sale, the herbs will be $1 per pot, and that's pretty hard to pass up. I know that I will probably pick up some more chives, and will probably get some more of the mint plants, but I don't know what else.

I'm trying to be reasonable about my purchases, but at the same time, Sean is going to finish rototilling the back beds tomorrow, and that means that I can transplant my spearmint, peppermint, and catnip to the back yard. It'll be nice to have those plants out of pots and into the ground where they should've been all along. I plan to let the plants naturalize a bit; they'll make excellent ground cover.

I stepped outside a time or two this afternoon to smell the gardenias. I'm thrilled to be adding something like this to my garden—if I'm going to grow flowers, I want heady ones with incredibly intoxicating smells. So far I've added jasmine, jessamine, and camellias—and tomorrow I'm adding gardenias.

This afternoon as I deadheaded the old flowers, I rested my head against the gardenia closest to me, closed my eyes, and breathed deeply. A wonderful smell, flowers.

These are new flowerbeds; they are still rough, unfinished. I have so much pride in them, even now, when they are still a work in progress. I can't imagine what it's going to be like when they're done.

Tomorrow: perhaps, at last, finishing out the herb garden. That, in and of itself, would be an accomplishment.

For now: Jeff is sleepy. I shall take my book and curl up with him for a little while. The rituals of the married, for me, include reading by lamplight after he has fallen asleep. Tonight, I'm doing a little bit of culinary research on Ethiopian cuisine. All kinds of interesting things to think about while becoming drowsy.