So we decided that the holly hedge in front of the house was scraggly and uncooperative. And the little juniper accent bushes were just giving up the ghost. We had them all pulled out and some nice soft trainable yew bushes and a couple of boxwoods put in. They look very nice , but as the are newly planted they are still a bit small. I decided to put in some flowers. The girls and I went to Home Depot to pick out some annuals. Katie was being Queen Crankypants and spent much of the browsing time lying in the cart wailing. I tried to get her attention by asking her what she thought of various kinds of flowers and she gradually calmed down. I found some lovely lilies (theoretically perennials, but we'll see) but couldn't decide between the yellow, orange and red. I asked Katie which ones she liked best and she pointed to the impatiens on the next shelf.
I ended up with a flat of marigolds (The rust ones with an orange center.)
Two lily plants (one red, one orange,) and a 9 cell flat of red impatiens for Katie.
I managed to get the lilies planted while Julie was napping.
The impatiens was looking a little peaked and I wanted to get them into soil ASAP. After the girls were in bed and I had cleaned up the supper dishes I turned on the porch light and planted the impatiens.
When they were in the ground I just sat there a while and listened to the quiet. It was by no means silent. We live close to the airport, and there is always traffic noise, and the wind in the trees. But it was quiet. Calm. No crying children, nobody playing basketball, no radio or TV Jeez, I've forgotten how good it can sound.
So now I'm up way too late, and morning will come way too soon, But I needed that.

GHR