As you know, I’ve been searching for a Tilden apricot tree, as they’re the only kind that’s self-pollinating, so you only need one.  Because I was going to Osoyoos for the Easter weekend, I decided to have a look in the Sandhu Nursery.

If you’re ever in Osoyoos and enjoy gardening, please visit this nursery.  I found my Tilden apricot tree there, and was amazed at the huge variety of shrubs, trees and flowers.  You have no idea how massive it is until you go in there.

You’d think that’d be enough joy for anyone, but no, it continued.  Mom saved a bunch of Life magazines from 1962 (Marilyn Monroe’s death) and 1963 (the Kennedy assassination).  They’re all in mint condition, and as mom doesn’t want to store them any longer, I said I’d take them.

She also gave me two books printed in Germany in 1886 which I remember being allowed to look at very carefully when I was a small child.  They’re colour drawings of animals and people from around the world, or the world as they knew it at that time.  Fascinating!

The week had started well anyway, as last Tuesday I was invited to spend a spa afternoon with three other women.  We had a full body massage, facial and pedicure, which took from 1:00 until 4:00 PM.  I’ve never experienced such relaxation.

And I always love to spend time with Pat, the woman whose guest I was for this extravaganza.  Her real name’s Petra, which I think is a much nicer name than Pat, but you know how it was in the old days.  Petra would’ve been too odd for Canadians, so when she arrived from Germany in the 1950’s she changed it to Pat.

And speaking of change, last week I saw a front-end loader type machine unloaded in front of a house across the road.  Suddenly, whammo, the trees and house were being pulled down and for the first time in 22 years I could see through to the road on the other side!

At first I felt sick because I thought some behemoth’ll be built there and people will be able to look into my dining room window.  But fortunately, as it turns out, the old neighbour is just building a brand new house right on the same old spot.  Phew!  I always pride myself in not needing window blinds on that side of the house.

My house looks very nice with its new stucco.  Now the wood siding on the lower half need re-painting, but I figure I can do that over the next few weeks.   I’ll hire Larry the Handyman to get on a ladder to paint the fascia board as I don’t need to risk my life for home improvement.

I picked flowers like pentsemon, holly hocks and echinacea for my new water wise garden, and the irrigation expert’s coming this Friday.  So as far as I can tell there’s no end in sight for happiness.