Maria was off visiting a sick friend for most of the day, and I plotted a succulent strike as a surprise for her when she returns.

This would mean- a raid on two garden stores closing for the summer that I knew had leftover succulents on sale.

They were grown from leaves and cuttings by a rabid succulent lover I befriended the other day.

Even before I left, an order of three exotic supplements (a surprise for Maria) arrived from a California succulent store online.

In for a dime, in for a dollar. I went to two garden stores and came back with a mix of unusual succulents, including one rescue that needed help and was free.

Maria is one of the Great First Responders in the Succulent World. She loves to nurse a sickly succulent back to health.

I asked the owner of the store to pick out her own personal favorites, and she did.

When I got home, I laid them all out on the porch to surprise Maria along with the exotic ones ( she just now pulled into the driveway, and the dogs are barking), and I hear the shouts of surprise and delight when she came across the plants.

That is a sweet sound to me. up

I don’t really know anything about any of them – one of them is what they used to call a “Wandering Jew,” I think they’ve changed the name.

Maria was gone for five or six hours,  and when she came in to thank me and scold me for buying her things, she was already talking about mixing up the small ones, moving the big ones around, changing locations.

She looks drained. This will help.

She will have a lot of  Maria fun this weekend; it will lift her after what I know was a trying day. I had a sweet time while she was gone.

Ten times a day, she brings me a succulent and asks me to see how it feels, or notice a bud, or remember how small it was six months ago and tell me what light it likes and whether or not it’s happy.

It’s a song of life, I don’t understand all of it, but I love to hear it.

Today, I went exploring Hoosick Falls, a run-down old upstate mill down with a wonderful revival going on.

I found a restaurant that makes a wonderful crab cake sandwich – delicious, and I even got to eat a soft pretzel and buy some exceptional Italian pasta.

When I got home, I threw the ball for Zinnia, ran Fate around the sheep, watched Bud hunt snakes and chipmunks (no success.)

Tonight I’m making a cauliflower pizza with herbs, lettuce, and kale from our garden. Another heatwave here, not too awful compared to what it is hitting the Northwest.