i did it!

hooray! hooray! i planted my garlic! i only planted about half of it though.  i decided that i am going to do two batches, one that i planted today, and one that i will plant in about a week or so, or whenever i finish my soil amendments here before the winter.  the ground is so sandy here in chatham!  shayne (my landlord, friend and boss) had mulched over the sand here, so i had no idea what i was dealing with until today when i inserted my shovel and about 2 cm of mulch gave way to bright, yellow, dry, crumbly sand.  it is alright, don't panic.  i can try to fix this.  what i think i will do is keep all of the leaves falling from the trees and into my yard and put them on the garden to create a layer.  after that i will add a good 6 to 8 inch layer of compost that will be purchased from s&j or cape sand or something.  after that i think i would like to add another layer about 6 to 8 inches deep of seaweed, if the search for the good stuff ever proves fruitful for my father, our friend jeff, or myself.  so far, nothing.  maybe that will leach something into the sandy depths below before the spring.
after planting garlic, i realized that pippa was feeling extra energetic today, so i decided to take her for a long walk before i had to leave for class.  we went to lighthouse beach in chatham, there was no one there and it was very warm ad foggy, beautiful morning.  anywho, while we were walking i saw pippa rolling in something.  i called her over to me, but since she knew she was doing something she shouldn't be doing, she ran in the opposite direction.  she's pretty dumb when it comes to being caught, and i caught her in no time.  unfortunately for me, she had rolled in shit that was the same color as her fur so i didn't see it before i grabbed her.  ew.  i was so angry that i had just touched poop that i marched her into the water and scrubbed her down with sand, meanwhile my whole legs (in jeans) were getting soaked, and she was yelping and whining because i was holding her in one spot and making her go into the water up to her neck (she knows how to ham it up for a crowd).  when we got home i gave her another bath, this time with dog shampoo with the wonderful useful addition of baking soda, and now she smells squeaky clean.  i still haven't quite forgiven her.