My lily of the valley seem to have survived having been transplanted, and I even have a few little flowers under my window. Now if I can keep the utility workers with their ginormous feet from trampling them, I should have a lovely patch of them in a couple of years. I have planted new foxgloves and lavender, and I think I have saved the heirloom climbing rose in the back, while at the same time going Rambo on the weeds and generally out of control jungle that is my backyard (this is a years-long struggle, and recently took a 30 ft dumpster to clear the bulk of the crap that had taken over my yard. Long story.) So generally, I am very happy to have reclaimed the outside of my house!
In other news, I had a lovely Easter dinner with family (well, most of them anyway).
My cousin (well, technically my ex-husband's stepmother's brother's wife, so 'cousin' it is!), is awesome. We play D&D, go antiquing (and junk shopping) together, and fiddle with pens and crafts and who knows what all. She is also pretty much a full on lefty liberal, and I'd say about 99% heathen, too.
Well, she typically does the family Easter meal. These things can, as I am sure many of you know, be fraught with tension, but this was nice. Niblet (my son for new folks) and I went over, as did my ex, his dad (also my 'Dad,' and always will be), and his wife (also known as SMiLfH; step-mother-in-law-from-hell, because she totally is), and Dad's father. The last three are hopelessly religious (though I suspect Dad fakes it to avoid the wrath of SMiLfH). But my ex, my son, my cousin, and her husband are really not. SMiLfH and ex's grandfather are also super republican conservative types, and while Dad is as staunch a liberal as anyone, he keeps it rather mum for the same reasons as he pretends to rather more religious sentiment than I suspect he really feels.... All in all it is sometimes a bit of a tinderbox awaiting a match...
Nevertheless, there were no disagreements, no bickering, not even very much shade thrown. Signs of relief all round! And then my son and I stayed around to rant about Tantrump with my cousin. Good food, good folks, no conflict? As good an Easter as about the best a heathen like me can hope for!
So a happy walking dead/zombie Jesus/Easter to all of you, as well! ;)
