Issues and Issues

 When house guests are expected the cleaning tends to be more thorough , especially when one has diligently avoided the indoors as much as possible all spring, summer and fall. There are a number of unsavory zones of debris , dark corners from which eyes have been averted , and built up clutter on surfaces. And then, there is The Magazine Thing. Piles and piles of gardening magazines , none of them ever disposed of unless they are unfortunate enough to fall prey to a pet or wine accident . Actual china in the china cabinet ? Not a chance , but if you need an issue of Horticulture from the late 90's I could probably dig it up. English Garden ? Expensive and full of content, must be saved. Never-mind that the aforementioned content is almost completely irrelevant to my climate zone. Remember the now defunct Country Living Gardener ? It lives on in two drawers in the guest room.Pacific Horticulture ? It's a journal; one must always keep journals.  A few years ago I actually bought three of those nice slipcases for my back issues of Fine Gardening-made me feel pretty organized too. They are however, full and have been almost since the day I got them. The overflow is piled on the floor under the bookcase.

  It is a winter tradition here to pull out a few every evening , sometimes to read, sometimes just to look at the photos. Well, usually just to look at the photos.