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My Trip Companion Waiting List
Y ou’ve all been waiting for the blog post where you would finally get to meet my Nursery Trip Companion and Fellow Plant Adventurer, Aunt Patti—aka AP. Well THIS is that blog post!!
But first…some Readers have asked if they could join me on nursery trips. Here’s how I answer them (which I could put more delicately but who the hell has energy for delicate?). Sure, you can go with me when AP croaks! Or for whatever reason she can no longer make long road trips. First, I don’t see her croaking any time soon. Second, the way she’s going, she’ll be able to travel with me for another 5 to 10 years I hope.
But if you really want, I will put you on my trip companion waiting list.
I really do have a list! And I’ll put you on it but you have to understand that I’m picky about who I travel with because PEOPLE GET ON MY NERVES!
I’ll tell you how they get on my nerves, but first…here’s someone who does not. My BFF, Evelyn.
For your gardening inspiration, here are some pics of things I loved on my trip with Evelyn to Butchart Gardens, Brentwood Bay, British Columbia.
Stunning, stunning, love, love, love!
Okay. You would get on my nerves on a nursery trip if you…
- Don’t laugh on a daily basis, either at yourself or others. Because believe me, I’ll be laughing at you.
- Complain about something all the damn time. Ain’t your therapist.
- Are rude with a sense of entitlement. You’d be thrown out the car within a minute…at a very fast speed.
- Think you know how to drive. Nope! Move over. Even Mike lets me drive him around cuz he knows I’ll get him there quicker.
- Can’t eat on the run and must have a salad at every meal. What’s the point of traveling other than to graze on Twizzlers?
- Are not adventurous. You picked the wrong gal to travel with ya’ big sissy.
- Take after Chatty Kathy. Gawd!
- Take longer than 20 minutes from shower to out-the-door. Ain’t gonna travel well together Princess, ’cause a nursery ain’t no beauty contest.
- Take things too seriously. Anxious, uptight, touchy? Don’t ask to come with me.
- Refuse to use a porta-potty. Don’t even bother to contact me.
- Are on the phone all the time. Look, I can be on MY phone because I’m a working woman and because I make my calls short-and-sweet and get off, pronto. I only talk to Mike maybe twice a trip. (I live and work with the man, for plantsake, I do NOT need to hear his voice every damn day!) If you can’t live with one minute phone calls, find another ride. And never call my number.
So. Consider. Still want to be my companion??? LOL!
While you realize you probably don’t, here’s more inspiration. Evelyn and I spotted these while visiting Charleston, South Carolina. LOVE them…
…like I LOVE the steps to my pool…
Since AP is my preferred Plant Adventure Buddy, she obviously doesn’t bug me in any of those 11 ways. (Well-trained.) Plus she lets me enjoy a nursery visit without bombarding me with questions like, “Will this work in my yard?” She waits until the end when we go through her cart together and I can say “no,” or “yes,” or “maybe…what’s the worst that can happen?” and we both answer, “death”—which means we’ll probably buy anyway (because remember the two of us always err on the side of hope). Then we design together while driving to our next destination. Simple as that.
Think I’m keeping you in suspense before I actually introduce AP? Well I am.
Dog pics…
Charleston’s protector.
Sheri’s protector.
(R.I.P. Coco)
Hydrangea pics…
Charming!
Filoli Gardens, Woodside, California
Charming!
Sheri’s Garden
Okay. Enough inspiration!
Since the topic is trip companions, I asked AP herself if she would write down her thoughts—good or bad—about traveling with me.
Readers, Aunt Patti has spoken! Here’s my ready-for-anything and easy-to-love plant passion companion. Below, are her words—verbatim.
“WOW! Traveling with Sheri is an experience that I had no idea would turn out to be so much fun.
“As you can tell from her blog she thinks ‘her way is the right way.’ Well, I can’t remember when it wasn’t.
“Designing my front yard, she said ‘I will do it but you can not change it once it is done.’ Now some people would be put off by her statement and the way she said it but, you have to trust she knows what she is talking about. I now have a beautiful front yard and get more compliments.
Photos taken 2 years after new design and install.
“In our travels, at first Sheri was the navigator and I drove. Sheri was not computer literate in cell phone map navigations. So our roles changed. If you have ever driven with Sheri, you will find out she has a lead foot. As soon as we get in the car, it’s ‘Which way do I go?’ before I have the door shut.
“There are times when we are busy talking and go right past our next turn. Or we are looking for the next place and I can’t find it on my phone. I have an android and she has an Apple. So I switch phones. Laugh we laugh and laugh at all the mistakes we make.
“Thank goodness we are compatible in all we do. We are both ready to stop at the end of the day, we are both up and ready to go in the morning (sometimes before the nurseries are open). We will hit as many nurseries as we can in one day and there are a few we just do a drive-by because the website wasn’t accurate, but we usually agree.
“I learn from Sheri every time we are together. Yes, I love color and she loves texture but I am learning what she means. She has an eye for the right combination of color and texture, I see pink and purple and off I go. Then I am jealous I didn’t follow her.”
SO TRUE! Laughed my ass off reading this from her.
Whether anyone wants to come along with me or not, I say GO OUT and HAVE AN ADVENTURE! With or without me.
So you’ve met AP but there’s one other special occasion to mention here…
I tell Mike all the time how lucky he is to have me as a wife—especially with free landscape services. Of course, his comeback is, “You are lucky to have me as a husband.” So we both think the other is lucky. Must be why we are celebrating 39 years together today! We met at the Fortuna Rodeo and Dance. He asked me to dance and the rest is history. A whole lot of HOLY CRAP history!
He still can’t dance. But his looks make up for it.
