Wednesday 5 March 2014

the plantin' of primroses

You know...  Peep #1 grows primroses like I build teleportation devices.

Whenever I see Ol' Peepers goin' through the house, scrounging around, gathering up things you normally wouldn't gather up together, I know she's up to somethin'.  Up to somethin' like plantin' primroses.  Not that long ago, I witnessed just such an event.

Ol' Peepers was diggin' in the kitchen drawers and cupboards lookin' for scissors and plastic wrap.  Then she found some black electrical tape and a marker in the basement.  When I saw her bringin' empty old coffee tins in from the garage, I figured she was up to no good.  When I saw her with a hammer and a nail, I knew she was up to no good.  Once I saw the plant tags, watering can and potting mix, I knew she was plannin' on making a mess.  The evidence was all there.  One plant-related mess was on its way, for sure.

The peep is really good at making messes.  She does it quite often and you know what they say. They say, practise makes perfect.  Well the peep has had a lot of practise with makin' messes so she makes them really well.

As I watched Ol' Peepers with her plastic wrap and electrical tape, I realised she was just an eggbeater and frying pan short of a teleportation device.   Throw in a whisk and she might manage a time machine.

It's at times like this when I realise that the peep isn't nearly as dense as she appears.  She actually has the makings of a fairly decent engineer in her.  Not quite there, though.  She has no grasp of the math required to fully understand the physics of egg beater-whisk time travelling-teleportation physics.  Complicated math like that really is best left up to us cats.  We understand it, instinctively.

Anywho...  you're probably all wonderin' what plastic wrap has to do with primroses.  Let me explain.

Every winter, the peep does the same thing.  When it's cold and snowy outside, she plants primrose seeds for my primrose garden.  I really do appreciate her planting the primroses 'cause, to be honest, I look really good posin' among them when they bloom.  They just sort of suit me or somethin'.

The first part of plantin' primroses is the noisiest part.  With the hammer and nail, she makes holes in the bottoms of all the coffee tins.  I am told that due to an impending shortage of coffee tins, this part of the process may no longer be needed.  Apparently, the kind of coffee she used to buy switched from bein' packaged in tins to bein' packaged in little bags.  Since the only reason she liked that particular brand of coffee was to gain access to the tins, she switched brands.  Alas, this new brand is also packaged in bags.

I can't imagine switchin' from my favourite brand of food just because of a change in packaging.  As long as the food inside is the same, I would be fine with it.  Peep #1 had better not get any ideas about switching my food so as to give her access to tins for the plantin' of primroses.  I like the primroses and all but I don't like them well enough to interfere with my meals.  Doin' something like that would be crazy.  Crazier than a squirrel makin' nut pies kind of crazy.  The peep had better come up with a new tin acquisition plan right away and that plan had better not have anythin' to do with the enjoyment of my meals, if you know what I mean.

But I digress.  Back to the peep's plantin'.

After she makes the holes in the the coffee tins, Peep #1 fills 'em up with potting mix.  She then soaks all that mix really well before squishin' it down - just a teeny bit - with her hand.  She usually gets her hands all dirty doin' this and then has to go wash 'em.  Like I said before, the peep messes stuff up really well.  She's even capable of messin' up herself!

The next step is to sprinkle the seeds on top of the potting mix.  I am not allowed to help with this part which I find to be extremely unfair.  Peep says the seeds are too small for me to be gettin' my paws in there.  I say, my paws are a whole lot smaller than the peep's hands and therefore I am much better suited to the task.  So far, the peep has not yet acquiesced on this point but give it time.  One day, I shall get my way.  I just know it.

The next step is to water in the seeds with some more water.  I don't know why it's called watering in.  Think the peep just says that to show off or somethin'.

Then she uses the marker to write the names of the primroses on plant tags and sets them down to dry.  This is another stage in which I am, unfairly, not allowed to participate.  She always mutters something about my getting permanent marker all over my paws but I think she's just makin' that up, too. Like I'm really gonna get that marker all over my paws.  MOUSES!

Once, my dad walked over the driveway right after the peep had put some sort of black stuff on it and before the black stuff had managed to dry.  Now that was a mess.  Then the peep had to take a wire brush to get the black stuff off the new brick pathway 'cause my dad had walked along that pathway right after walkin' over the not-yet-dry driveway.  A little bit of marker on my paws has NOTHIN' on driveway stuff paw prints all over a new brick pathway.  Peeps just like to make mountains out of mole hills, I think.  Always makin' somethin' out of nothin', they are.  MOUSES!

So the peep's next step is to cover the coffee tins and seeds with plastic wrap.  This is the best part of the whole show.  You ever watch a peep with plastic wrap?  PRICELESS.

Ol' Peepers can't manage plastic wrap usage to save her soul.  That plastic wrap outsmarts her every time.  It sticks where it shouldn't and never sticks where it should.  It gets all balled up and she has to pull it apart but if the pulling apart part proves too difficult, she has to start all over again. Then when she actually goes to tear it, it doesn't always tear.  Sometimes it just sort of pulls, gettin' thinner and thinner, holdin' on the rest of the wrap on the mother wrap roll for dear life.  That's usually about the time when I hear the peep cry, "MOUSES!"   I've even seen her stomp her feet in frustration.  Always a fun show to watch, for sure.  Almost as good as Bird TV.

Eventually, the peep manages to get two layers of plastic wrap over each of the coffee tins.  Then she wraps the electrical tape around the plastic wrap to secure it because, as everyone knows, plastic wrap never sticks to what it's supposed to stick.  Only sticks to everything else.  And somewhere in the wrappin' of the electrical tap, the plant tags get attached to the outside of the tins.

Well Ol' Peepers has planted up a dozen or more coffee tins with primrose seed and put 'em all out on the veranda.  Don't know what other peeps think when they come to my front door.  You have to admit, seein' rows of coffee tins by someone's front door is a pretty weird thing to see.  Well, I think it's weird.  Maybe peeps out there just find it to be normal.  Who knows, really.  Peeps do weird things all the time so maybe they're used to seein' other peeps doin' weird things, too.

I wanted to show you some pictures of the mess the peep made with her coffee tins and electrical tape but, to be honest, it was a mess and just looked weird.  Then I thought I might grab a couple of whisks and travel forward in time to get some pictures of me with the primroses when they're big enough to bloom.  But then I realised I didn't have to do any time travelin' for pictures 'cause I know the peep already has pictures of me with primroses, blooming in years past.  So I grabbed a few shots from the computer and put 'em up here on my blog.  Hope you like 'em.

I have to admit, the peep does grow some pretty primroses.  I can't wait 'til May when they're blooming again.  I'm gonna pose in them and have Ol' Peepers take my picture, I think.  Should be nice.  Pictures of me posin' in the primroses are always nice.  Don't you agree?

41 comments:

  1. oh how lovely! We love gardening! Maybe we can try this! We're doing a whole patio container garden. I even blogged about how I "smart pot." And we hear you on the coffee tins. Man. Those are hard to find. MomFOD uses them to bake Ukrainian babka and they're tough to get! - Crepes.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I am not much of a gardener, but last year I had my mother come to my house to help me with a garden, i must say, by the end it looked lovely, and I plan to do this this year as well. With the help of my mom again no doubt! haha! Gotta love em!
    Have a great day Nis!

    ღ husky hugz ღ frum our pack at love is being owned by a husky

    ReplyDelete
  3. Yes I do want c more pics of u with primroses my mommys mommy loved primroses and both of them say mouses lile ur mommy it must b catchingol u look so very pawsome in pic ur so very gorgeous my mommys say so too♥♥♥♡♡♡

    ReplyDelete
  4. Weeee I share tjis I lubs u nissy♥

    ReplyDelete
  5. Wow. Those primroses in full bloom are so pretty! We'll be looking forward to new pictures of you with the primroses in May. :)

    ReplyDelete
  6. Our Mum loves primroses so she loved your pictures.
    Luv Hannah and Lucy xx xx

    ReplyDelete
  7. So pretty. And speaking of pretty pictures, Happy Seville Day on the Cats of the CB Calendar!

    ReplyDelete
  8. dood...if yur mom runz outta coffee canz tell her therez all wayz cat food canz N then her wood bee growin reel for sure... nerissa primroses.....thatz a lot oh werk her haz ta due...we hope they all sprout....when can her plant em in de ground ??!!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Nerissa, I am SO glad my human doesn't do any of this - I can only imagine the disaster she would create! Of course, that means our garden is untidy and ugly and kinda brown, but it's a fair trade off.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Oh Nissy, we love those Primroses. We want to do that. Our Mom loves to do flowers. Maybe we will see if we can find some seeds. They are really pretty. Thanks for the lesson. Take care.

    ReplyDelete
  11. You had us MOL @ that plastic wrap part!! The same thing happens to our Mom....it's purrty funny to watch. Mom doesn't even attempt seeds...she can't even keep full grown plants alive.

    You DO look great posing in those flowers!!

    The Florida Furkids

    ReplyDelete
  12. Yes your peeps have grown perfectly, pretty, primroses!

    ReplyDelete
  13. Erm...why doesn't your Mummy buy some from the store? It'd save your utter embarrassment when people go past your front door giggling,pointing and sniggering about coffee cans.
    The REAL Maple Syrup Mob xxxxx

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Maybe 'cause she plants a lot of 'em? I don't know for sure. I do know that last year she planted well over a hundred baby primroses in my primrose garden. Buyin' that many plants might cut into my snack funds, or somethin' and you KNOW how I feel about snacks. purrs

      Delete
  14. Wow! Your peep is a pretty good gardener! My Grandpa was an excellent gardener, but that gene was not passed down to me. I guess I will stick to my other talents. Your flowers are really pretty :)

    ReplyDelete
  15. They are lovely. We hope that spring comes so we can see flowers.

    ReplyDelete
  16. That sure is a lot of work, but such a beautiful result!

    ReplyDelete
  17. So we don't forget, please tell Seville how wonderpurr he looks on today's CB calendar! We have a huge question. Why can't the peep use the same coffee tins year after year? The primroses are so exquisitely beautiful. We can't wait to see this year's crop. Purrs and paw-pats, Lily Olivia, Misty May, Mauricio, Giulietta, Fiona, Astrid, Lisbeth and Calista Jo

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I think that after a couple years use, they start to rust or somethin'. MOUSES! purrs

      Delete
  18. Happy Calendar Cat Day to Seville.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Holy Cat! Look at all that gorgeousness. We love those primroses of yours ... what a great reminder to us that spring will arrive eventually. :)

    ReplyDelete
  20. Do they stay in the cans or get transplanted into the ground? What's your peep gonna use for cans now??? I think it is really unfair that you don't get to help with scattering the seeds. Maybe you should go on a hunger stri--oh wait, No. Never mind.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hey there Spitty! Once they 'germinate' in the spring, the peep will prick 'em out and they'll each get their own little cell in a flat. This is ANOTHER stage where I don't get to assist. MOUSES! Then, once big enough, they go into the ground. purrs

      Delete
  21. Nissy, your peep has quite the green thumb. Those flowers are so pretty!

    ReplyDelete
  22. Wow, what beautiful primroses!! Your peep is furry furry horticulturely gifted and my P.A. loves the coffee can idea for potting seeds [her brand of coffee was moved into bags too!] Another great post with many useful tips not only fur gardening but fur time travelling too! :) Thanks XOX Basil XOX

    ReplyDelete
  23. Nissy some of my all time fave photos of you and your furrramily are the ones where you're knee-deep in primroses. They are so pretty and they virtually SCREAM "Spring" and believe me, we are SO read for some Spring here. We love primroses and I know all of you do too!!!!

    Hugs, Sammy

    ReplyDelete
  24. Great report ! Mum is a gardener too, and primeroses' mess is planned for the week-end... Fortunately, she works outdoor ! Purrs

    ReplyDelete
  25. Wow way to go! Those pictures are beautiful. We can't plant too much because of all the wildlife but that makes us appreciate your work even more!

    ReplyDelete
  26. I really love the posing with the primrose posies Nerissa. That must be a peep particular, the mess making I mean, the Dad is quite the messy mess maker hisself. And that wrap. MOL Never laugh so hard as when they have wrap.
    Thanks fur the May photos
    We really need em
    Timmy

    ReplyDelete
  27. Oh theese one is a good one! Yep, them Humans has a hard time with complicated math and plastic wrap for sure! Beautiful primroses and pics!

    ReplyDelete
  28. The primrose are pretty! And they make a perfect place for you to pose for a photo.
    My bipeds make a mess doing stuff like that sometimes - and they never let me help!

    ReplyDelete
  29. Your Peep is so talented! My peep has tried to start things in the spring, but they always withers up and dies. She says she has a BROWN thumb.
    Kisses
    Nellie

    ReplyDelete
  30. Well, I've never seen primroses that are not yellow before!!! Is this a Canadian thing? Nissy, My Staff is the kind of peep that buys things just for the container! Sheesh! You'd think she'd just go on line and buy the container without the stuff. Be cheaper!! Thicko!! Great to Seville's handsome face on the CB calendar today :))) xox

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Nope, not a Canadian thing at all. The peep orders most of her seed from France and England. Let me know if your mum would like any more info 'bout that, okay? Okay. purrs

      Delete
    2. Thanks Nissy :) My human uncle is a botanist and I am going to get the Staff to ask him! She feels a bit stoopid mol. BTW thanks for sharing my limerick post. Grateful :) xoxo

      Delete
  31. Wow. Those primroses look amazing! So many good pictures can be taken there. Nerissa you look so cute with all those colorful flowers.

    ReplyDelete
  32. That's a lot of work. But it's worth it. The flowers are gorgeous.
    You are so lucky to have flowers Nissy. Here it’s almost impossible. Roe deers love to have flowers for dessert…
    Ronrons
    Hisia

    ReplyDelete
  33. Wow, so happy I am reading backwards...wish my Mom would do some gardening stuff...your Primroses are the best for sure...lookin forward to seeing them in the garden.

    ReplyDelete

I love hearin' from my pals. I really, REALLY do. PURRS.