@phase2 Heh thanks!

They're starting layoffs at my employer. I feel shitty & scared about it. I tried to talk to a BFF about it & they had absolutely NO sympathy, so now I feel even worse.

It's been a few months. I'm in my house, um... I guess I'm doing OK?

Doing my taxes now. It's nice to do something boring & mundane for once.

Welp, house is getting all put together; we now have a functional first floor, & been able to hang pictures & stuff. It looks like a home now!

OK so just switched to simplified mode & it is THE TITS.

Nor can I express how much I want to be left the hell alone right now.

Ppl have been coming at me for stuff they need or want from me & I don't know what the emotional version of being touched out is but whatever it is, I'm that.

Also back in my new house.

I really don't want to be here right now. It's chaos & boxes & mess, I can't even walk through rooms w/o tripping on things or barking my shins or having to twist & turn & hurt myself just to get to the kitchen or something.

I got back yesterday evening from an all-too-short vacation with friends, esp. my BFF.

It wasn't long enough: BFF has moved to the UK permanently & I won't see them for at least a couple of years. I'm both glad they're happy & doing well, & also feel sad that I won't see them for so long.

@Kimmycott Right on. Thank you!

@Songbird1 Heterochromia!

Such a handsome boi!

@Kimmycott Hee that's probably the easiest option! Do you know if they're annuals or perennials, by chance?

Now I just have to find either a peanut plant or some plant named 'Peanut", for my 2nd dog (the one who died in January).

I now own a house & plan to plant a cottage garden in the front. Yesterday I emailed one of the nurseries I'd contacted back in the day. They don't have Ophelia available this season, but can grow me a plant in 2024.

So I'll get to plant Ophelia in my very own yard after all. <3

(I don't exactly have the best relationship with my folks, fwiw...)

I managed to find an Ophelia rose. Planted it in my parents' rose bed, as I wasn't living with a garden at the time. My parents took care of all their roses & ignored mine. It put out a single bloom, then died.

After Ophelia died I emailed a couple of specialty nurseries to find it. Seems there are a few nurseries around the country that have cuttings & rootstock available from old 19th-century gardens, & they'll propagate vintage plants every year depending on demand.

This isn't the David Austin climber; I'm in the US, & those are only available in the UK - I can't import. So the vintage variety was the only option.

This is the rose in question: https://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/72884/#b

My first dog was a black & tan wiener dog named Ophelia. She lived to be 17 years before finally passing. When she died, I planned to pick up a vintage rose variety named 'Ophelia' & plant it w/some of her ashes.