#I do have strawberries growing and my geraniums bloomed like crazy over the last few days

[moonfireflight]

Happy Birthday to Saeran and Saeyoung!

Oof, I know I’m cutting it close, but I managed to finish a little story for the boys. It’s been so beautiful seeing all of the art posted here and on Twitter to celebrate their day. Happy Birthday to my 2D husband and muse, Saeyoung, and to my digital brother-in-law, Saeran. You both deserve the all of the best

Anyway, onto the story! 1.7k words of fluff, cake, and gift-giving. 

“Honey~ Are you still asleep?” MC patted the blanket-covered form next to her, but the only response was a quiet snore. She was worried that he might sleep through half of his birthday but didn’t want to rouse him if he was tired enough to snooze through that. Deciding to give him more time to sleep, she snuck out of bed to begin preparations for the day.

***

A few hours earlier, Saeyoung had been the one to slip out of bed unnoticed by his girlfriend. Once dressed, he headed to his workroom and gathered up everything he needed. It was tough work by moonlight and his cellphone’s flashlight. After checking the guide he’d found online, and rearranging the garden soil to look nice again, he stood up and dusted off his hands. He tapped on the new app he had created and smiled at the sound that told him everything was working. Or, so he hoped.

Back inside the house, he scrubbed the dirt from his fingernails and shuffled out of his stained clothing. MC stirred, making a cute sleepy sound as Saeyoung curled back up next to her. As he drifted off, he marveled at how his life had changed over the last year. His brother was back in his life and would wake up to his gift soon. Then there was MC…, the woman who had completely altered the course of his life. Someone who loved every side of him and let him finally drop the mask that he had long thought to be a permanent part of his existence.

***

The sun was barely up when Saeran made his way out to the garden. He was learning to love the smell of it again - the earthy scent of the soil, sun-warmed grasses, and the few flowers that had already begun to bloom. With a deep breath, he stretched his arms over his head, drinking in the sunlight and fresh air, letting it infuse his body. The sound of his phone beeping frantically shook him from his morning reverie. “What is it…,” he grumbled, pulling his phone from his pocket and unlocking it. There were several messages from his brother.

   “Happy Birthday to my other half! I know you were worried about the garden wilting if you went on a vacation, SOOOO!!! I hacked your phone, sorry not sorry, and added a new app! Check it out!”

“What the hell would an app on my phone have to do with the garden?” Though he groused about it, he was honestly curious. How would an app let him leave the garden alone without having to worry about it? On the home screen of his phone, there was a new app with an icon of a cartoonish plant sprout. It opened with a short video of Saeyoung’s goofy avatar explaining that the app-controlled a new irrigation watering system that he had… installed in the middle of the night? Saeran shook his head, subconsciously trying to hide the smile on his face. He had to admit; it was pretty impressive.

***

With a ferocious yawn, Saeyoung woke up from his morning nap and snuck away into his workroom. He cracked open a Ph.D. Pepper, relishing in the satisfying hiss it made, and flopped into his favorite office chair. Paying no mind to it creaking under him, he booted up the program he’d made for his drones. A smile, interrupted by another yawn, stretched over his face as he played back a recording from earlier. Saeran had liked his gift! Judging by his brother’s reaction, he’d done a decent enough job of installing the tubes and connections and hadn’t ruined anything in the process. He replayed the video again, sighing in contentment.

After a moment, he switched to control mode and guided the drone he had left perched outside back into the shed. With a few clicks, he took control of another smaller drone that was already in the house. He knew that MC would be mad if he found out what she was working on for his birthday but he couldn’t resist taking a peek. Keeping the tiny robot close to the ceiling, he panned the camera around until he spotted her. Heat rose to his cheeks. She was licking white frosting from a spatula and dancing around the kitchen. How could she be so cute and sexy at the same time?! A moment later, Saeran entered the kitchen but his back was to the drone so he couldn’t guess what they were talking about. Saeyoung decided not to risk moving his drone closer to find out - Saeran was always much better at spotting them than MC was. He carefully perched the bot on top of the refrigerator, out of sight. Hmm… what were they up to?

He decided to find out in person instead. Besides, he was dying to wrap his arms around MC and snuggle up to her soft form. So she would have a chance to hide anything she was working on, he called out to her from the living room. “Honeyyy~ Good morning!”

“It’s almost afternoon! Oh, and hold on a sec! I’ll be right there!”

Saeyoung snickered and leaned up against the wall as he waited for her to arrive. His brother stepped out of the kitchen first and nodded to him. “Hey. I got your gift.”

“Yeah?” Even though he had seen Saeran’s reaction to it, his heart fluttered a little at the idea of hearing his thanks in person.

“You must have put a lot of work and research into that, huh?” Saeyoung replied with a shrug. It honestly had been a challenge to figure out how to make it work and program that app. He’d even set it to monitor local weather reports so it wouldn’t waste water on rainy days. “Mmhmm. I can tell. It’s… actually pretty brilliant. And helpful. Thanks.” Saeran pointed at his brother as he walked past. “No crying on your birthday.”

“Sae, honey? Are you okay?” She had arrived right as Saeyoung was putting his glasses back on from wiping his eyes.

“Yeah, I’m… oof!”

His breath left him in a woosh as his girl ran up and hugged him tightly. She rested her cheek against his chest, nuzzling against him. “Happy Birthday, love.” Her warmth suffused him, his heart full of his adoration for her. They stayed that way for a long moment, enjoying being so close together. Eventually, she stepped back. “I’m sure you already know I’m working on something, but if you give me a minute to hide it, you can hang out while I work on lunch?”

He stayed close to her all day, his hands finding her back or shoulder at every opportunity. Even after all the time they had spent together, he still loved having those little reminders that she was real.

The day passed in quiet companionship, though Saeyoung’s curiosity grew by the hour. He knew that his family was planning something for him, but he hadn’t been able to figure it out. Finally, when dinner was over, MC asked them to stay at the table while she disappeared into the kitchen again. Silent understanding passed between the brothers, and they nodded to each other with a smile, waiting for the reveal of their cake. Sure enough, MC returned with a cake decorated much like a Christmas treat - white icing peaks topped with strawberries, but also festooned with candles. “Happy Birthday, guys~! I hope you like it!”

Saeran appeared to be mesmerized by the candles. Last year, he stayed in his room for most of the day, so this was their first real birthday celebration since being reunited. “I was going to let him tell you, but Saeran grew these strawberries in his garden!”

Saeyoung glanced over at his brother and caught a smile from him. “Seriously?! That’s amazing! I can’t wait to try them!”

“It’s nothing. They’re tiny strawberries compared to what we can buy at the store.” Saeran’s eyes darted back to the cake.

“I tried one earlier and they are much sweeter than the ones from the store. You sell yourself short, hun. Anyway, shall we?” MC began singing “Happy Birthday,” and after a few notes, Saeyoung joined in as well. Both brothers leaned in and blew out the candles together, each making a wish in their hearts.

“Hey. Do you mind if we eat our cake out in the garden?”

Tilting his head in confusion, Saeyoung agreed to his brother’s suggestion even if it seemed odd to eat outside in the dark. “Let’s do it!”

Once everyone had their plates full of cake, they headed out to the yard. As they turned the corner, Saeyoung gasped. While the garden had been entirely dark when he was sneaking around that morning, it had been transformed. Glow in the dark rocks had been added to the gravel path, making it shimmer with blue sparkles. Tiny solar-powered lanterns peeked out from between the beds. Lastly, a string of star-shaped lights bridged the two tall poles on either side of one of the beds, casting light down on a trellis filled with large white flowers. “What is all this?”

Saeran motioned him over to a picnic table that had recently been added as well. “I know you aren’t into gardening, but I wanted to make this place into something nice for you too. I thought about this kind of thing a lot when I was a kid - making a space-themed garden for you to return to.” He gazed off into the distance as he continued. “Anyway, I didn’t know how to do it then, but here we are. The white flowers are called moonflowers and only bloom at night. The other flowers in that bed haven’t bloomed yet, but they’ll be columbines, which look like shooting stars, and night-sky petunias, which are blue with white spots like stars. Of course, the ones with the big fuzzy green leaves are… red geraniums. Maybe they look like supernovas or something but they were the flowers I picked out for you long ago.”

MC turned away, crying silently as the brothers embraced. It felt like finally, after all this time, the last of the barriers between them had fallen away. Even though she had known what Saeran was planning, seeing it all together like this was amazing. They had researched ideas together, but the design and work were all Saeran’s doing. She slipped away to get the gifts she had wrapped earlier, not wanting to end their evening in the magical garden just yet.

[nancypullen]

Whew!

I made it over the grumpy hump that was in my way yesterday and spent time in the sunshine today.  It was exactly what I needed.  I checked every square inch of  my gardens and I’m satisfied with what I saw.  Teeny-tiny zinnias are popping their sweet heads up where I threw seeds so I’ve got a litter of babies to watch.  Other residents are bigger ans stronger. The salvia is going nuts and the bees are loving it.  Here’s some very blurry proof.   The only thing in focus is the stem in the foreground. Oops.  I’m out of practice.

We’ll just pretend that it’s a dreamy watercolor painting, mmmkay? The basil is thriving and promises to add fresh flavor to many,many meals and snacks.

I scattered seed for dill because I love it in tuna and chicken salads, mayo for sandwiches, on fish and roasted potatoes, need I go on?

More babies!  Of course, I’ll have to thin that once I see what I’ve got.  Looks like I’ll have plenty to choose from. I still practice the good advice I received from Sally Owens in the movie Practical Magic (a favorite!).

 “There are some things I know for certain: always throw spilled salt over your left shoulder; keep rosemary by your garden gate; plant lavender for luck; and fall in love whenever you can.”  - Sally Owens Rosemary growing by my garden gate...

and my lavender for luck is booming!

I see a couple of weeds in that photo that I’ll have to go back out and pull. Arrgh! As far as falling in love whenever I can, I do!  I fall in love with animals, flowers, sunny days, good recipes, a good thunderstorm, a good book, and with that sweet fellow that lives here, day after day. This time of year I’m also in love with the idea of nurturing baby plants into productive members of society.  I ordered some hardy blue geraniums from a seed catalog and they arrived in a tiny plastic bag, just shriveled roots.  So I pampered them and put them to bed and lo and behold, I’m seeing GREEN!

That little plant is about the size of my thumb, but there’s hope!  This one is only about the size of my thumb nail, but I’ll talk sweetly to it and try to convince it to step away from the ledge.

This patch of thyme is doing beautifully, probably because it has its own cat.

Everything is a bit messy because of the storms we’ve had the last few days.  I’ll tidy up.

Mickey’s favorite, Mexican Heather, is blooming like crazy.  You can’t kill this stuff.

This lobelia sits in a bright pot on the porch.  She’s a bit of a drama queen, always ready to end it all if her shade, water,sun mixture isn’t just right.  The southern sun is not her friend, she’s a belle.  

These poor impatiens are still waiting to be nestled into that colander.  I’ve been trying to get some coco fiber mats, which is what I like to line my pots and planters with - but I don’t want to go into Lowe’s, where they’re just $1.98, and I sure don’t want to order them through Amazon where they’re charging $14 for a pair  What a rip off.  I tried to do a Lowe’s curbside pickup but it doesn’t appear that they’re doing small garden items. Dang it.  I’ll have to improvise.

Right in front of the porch I’ve got parsley shooting up  beside a hydrangea.  Parsley always does really well in that front bed and it’s nice to go out and snip some when I need it.

Most of the perennials aren’t blooming yet, but they look healthy and happy. The front porch isn’t quite ready yet, but it’s starting to look comfy again.

Remember last fall we had the old deck torn down and a new one built?  It’s time to stain it, we just have to have a string of dry days - something we haven’t had in months.  Still, that didn’t stop me from getting it ready for summer with a pretty pink geranium.

Cheerful! I have two white shutters that I’m dying to turn into a plant stand and put over in that left corner.  It could hold some pretty potted herbs or blooms.  Something like this.

Oh, I’ve got so many plans! And speaking of making things, I’m still sending out cards.  They’re far from perfect -  in fact they’re all a bit wonky.  But the people receiving them understand that I’m a bit wonky as well and overlook my errors. I sent this one out today to a dear pal.

I sent my mom a funny card for Mother’s Day, but you’d have to know the back story.  She used to tell us that when she was a kid she was so poor she had a tumbleweed for a pet.  So I took an adorable childhood photo of her...

Front                                                     and inside

I made a card for Mickey’s mom as well.  I don’t think I snapped a pic of the finished product, but it started with this photo of Mickey and his siblings.

The message inside said “Thanks for doing an incredible job, Mom”.   Keeping those hooligans alive should have earned her combat pay! Two with cap guns, one with a baton and one with a jump rope.  That’s a recipe for disaster if I’ve ever seen one.  Anyway, I had a ball making fun cards for the people we love and I’ve got another couple in progress on my desk that will probably go in the mail tomorrow.    I’ve made a few that were PG-13 so I won’t share them here.  Don’t knock it, it’s keeping me sane. Know what’s keeping Mickey sane?  Food.  I give him things like this angel food cake with fresh strawberries and whipped cream and tell him its on his diet.  It could be worse, right?

I give him a lot of salads, so I don’t deny him the occasional treat.  He’s got a monster of a sweet tooth and sometimes an apple just doesn’t cut it.  I can’t wait until we start getting the first really good watermelons of the season.  That’s the best candy around! Alright, I’ve rambled enough.  I’ve adjusted my attitude, soaked up some sunshine, fiddled in the gardens, and made a good meal that included dessert.  If that’s not a good day I don’t know what is.  Last night’s bubble bath didn’t hurt.  I soaked and read while that big, full moon peeped through the window.  It was wonderful.  What’s that quote about the faithfulness of nature?  Whatever it is, that’s what’s getting me through.  The reliable, buzzing bee, the seeds sprouting and pushing toward the sun, and that bright moon shining down on us while the earth wakes and stretches.  That rhythm never fails us, no matter what else is happening in the world.  Thank goodness. Stay safe, stay well, stay focused on the good that’s all around us.

XOXO- Nancy