We’re still here just not blogging. Alas, none of the ducks have returned. We were talking with our vet about it, and she thought it was probably a fox or three.

I started a new job a couple weeks ago. On the plus side, the work is more interesting / challenging, the salary is a little bit more, and I can work from home when I need to. On the negative side, I have to share an office and my back is to a floor-to-ceiling window that is open to the main reception area for the entire building. This has the potential to put a serious crimp in my web surfing. The folks I share the office don’t really care so much, but when the Big Cheese walks by and sees the bright pink screen of someone’s blog….yeah.

Luckily, eventually my desk will be moved around and things will be dandy, but who knows how long that will take. It’s not a simple desk that can be flipped around; it has a hutch and it’s got a couple of pieces and the U movers will have to come in. For a while, there was a large bookcase there to block the window as a temporary measure. I loved it, but no one else (including 2nd Big Cheese) liked it. The bookcase was removed a few days ago.

I feel naked.

But what to do? We can’t hang shades or blinds or curtains. We aren’t allowed to put temporary frosting film on the windows. I suggested we hang some posters of cute guys, but no. Thus….I introduce to you: Operation Plantoflauge.

I found the tallest plant stand I could and tested out all the large plants HD had to offer. Andy was amusing the baby while I kept asking him: “Can you see me?” “What about this one? It’s bushy but short. Or this one that’s tall but skimpy?” There were a couple of really huge palms, but they were too wide and would probably blind my neighbor. This one that we settled on wasn’t the tallest, but it is dense. Hopefully with some TLC it will head up a bit more.

What I really would like to do…for Operation Plantoflauge II…is to get some hanging plants to hang over this one, so eventually the two will meet and form a living curtain. I will keep you updated.

Most of the Master Gardener classes have been pretty practical: soil and water conservation, basic botany, integrated pest management. This past Thursday, though, we got to get our hands dirty and play. VT actually has a real course in floral design complete with a giant refrigerator room and shelves of various flower containers, mountains of that weird green foam stuff, and sort of scary knives. The instructor, who also taught our botany class, gave us a quick overview of floral design, and then we jumped in. (Well, a bunch of us went and ate cookies while the others took all the good flowers.) Here’s what I made.

At the end of the class, the instructor gave a brief critique to everyone. He said mine was a european botanical. European ’cause I squished in lots of flowers and botanical because when he called “5 minutes left,” I started jamming in a bunch of greenery to cover up the foam base. It really was a lot of fun, and I have to quiet the urge to run out and buy a scary floral knife and some of that alien foam. (I asked the instructor what the foam is made out of, and he said, “It’s a secret.” I thought he was kidding, but apparently the floral foam market is very hush hush.)

I asked Anya if she thought I should quit my job and become a florist. She looked at me and said:

I said, “Fine, be a big ole meanie butt! Go play with your v-smile!” She said, “Uh, I don’t have a v-smile because they are dumb. How about I read my book?”