Not much to report this week, but a picture is worth a thousand words…
Tuesday I have the cataract removed from my left eye and I should be seeing in 3D by Wednesday. The W.C. Handy Blues Festival starts Wednesday, as well, and I hope to feel well enough to attend – and that the weather is co-operative. Surely we’ve had enough rain this week to last us a couple… New Harmony Antiques Show is the 14-15th, and the Wilson Auction House over there will be having a seriously good selection of collectibles for us to bid on, so I should have lots more to share with you next Sunday!
And since all this loveliness can not be Heaven, I know in my heart it is June.” —Abba Louisa Goold Woolson.
After a cool and rainy May, June met us with Sunshine and balmy breezes. My cataract surgery went super great and I’ve been outside breaking all the rules to finish up the gardens and porches. I have been careful, but I couldn’t resist.
Let’s take a walk around the house, starting in the Edible Garden. Along our trellis, the cantaloupe, butternut squash, cucumber. and watermelons are all coming right along. None of the lima beans I put in sprouted, but I’ve got two more cucumber plants to fill the bare space soon.
On the outside of each side of the trellis are 14 bell pepper plants – 8 California Wonders and 6 Big Berthas. In between the peppers and the trellis are sunflowers of all kinds and they are going to town! At the south end of each side are moonflower vines, sure to shine.
In the back and on the sides are nine tomato plants – 4 Better Boys, 1 Early Girl Bush, 1 Celebrity, a sweet cherry 100, a husky red cherry, and one called chocolate sprinkle that is alleged to taste like a black cherry.
Nine squash – five zucchini, four yellow straightneck prolific – are having the time of their lives, flowering like champs, but where are the bees? I have anise hyssop to attract them, not to mention a yard full of clover, but so far I’ve seen very few.
The peas are flush with edible pods (Oregon sugar pods II) and I’m often out there snacking.
I’ve been so bored with my own cooking lately – like for the past year – and decided to learn a new style: a countertop griddle. So far, Casey is better at it than I am, but I warned him if he is tooo good, he’ll end up doing all the cooking. We used an old highway sign as a heat shield, which I think is kinda cute.
Around here on the front porch, walking in from the north side, I’ve moved all the coleus that I propagated last winter and they look great! I guess I’ll end up with twice as many next year….help!
In the Peace/Bird garden, the hummingbirds are back buzz-bombing each other at the feeder, and Casey had a skirmish with a squirrel (he won) the other day. This garden is all native perennials and they are so reliable and calm – you might say peaceful. I am so thrilled to be able to see the avian display with a clarity I’ve never experienced. It’s a dang miracle.
I think I’ll grab a handful of those sugar peas, sit out on the swing, and enjoy. Wish you were here…
I have had to be on Prednisone for ten of the last fourteen days, finally finished up a couple of days ago, and it has been excruciating for my brain. That stuff makes me so speedy, I can’t focus, I can’t sleep, I’m irritable, my stomach hurts…I’ve done too much griping and had one day of out-of-the-blue tears. I guess the upside is that my back and right arm are not giving me even a wince of discomfort and my head is back to its normal thinking, which is probably not normal, but you know what I mean.
We went to the Shannon’s School of Dance Recital last night and it was great! Really super. I haven’t seen the Jr girls in a while, so just being around them was a treat.
Samantha and Nova
In between storms, we’ve been able to get most of the garden planted and it’s looking good.
I still need to plant the green beans, and have plans to get a flat of marigolds and stick them around everywhere I can fit them. My nasturtium is starting to bloom out on the South Porch, but I want to move them back to the Edible Garden, and that involves a lot of switchy-changey of containers.
The Peace/Bird Garden has been loving all this rain.
This will all need to be completed by Memorial Day, as I have my first cataract surgery the day after. While I don’t mind not being able to weed, I Love to plant, so it’s working out well to have it all done beforehand.
I’ve talked to several people who’ve had the cataract surgery and each had different ideas about what lens to implant, but none had any problems with their procedure. That’s reassuring.
We’re planning the Cemetery Loop from Mount Carmel to Parkersburg to Marion Church to Albion to Grayville and say hello to the Ancestors. It’s been a year since Casey and I spent some time cleaning some 100plus-year-old gravestones and I’m curious to see how they look. We scrubbed and used some stuff called “wet and forget” that is supposed to continue to work over time, so we’ll see. We don’t usually leave decorations in those old cemeteries, but I will be doin’ up the Eatons’ front-row plot in Grayville with a saddle this year.
Hope this missive finds you well and enjoying the season!
I’ve been sick since Wednesday, flat out on the couch both Thursday and Friday, finally somewhat upright yesterday. My little brain has been doing the Nursing Process since the onset of symptoms — that is Analyze, Diagnose, Plan, Implement, Evaluate — and as I’ve analyzed the hell out of the illness, I have no diagnosis. Isn’t everything Covid now? It’s not a cold (what happened to our old familiar rhinovirus?), but the body aching is reminiscent of flu. The coughing could be either/or, low-grade temp same. After my #3 vaccine, I was sick for a day, and somehow this feels the same, only with lots of coughing/snot. I’m calling it Covid because I want to finally face this thing I prepared for all these years…
Even though the diagnosis is iffy, the Plan is the same, so I implemented decongestants, cough drops, tylenol, plenty of fluids. The most important treatment, for me, is to lie down with a box of tissues at hand, and let my body do its healing thing. Our immune systems are wonderful and hats off to mine for its valor and ongoing dedication to my well-being. I still feel rundown, and definitely brain-fogged, as if I’ve been gone for a while, but I have rallied, so I’ll evaluate the Plan as a winner and carry on.
It’s been rainy, a good time to be stuck on the couch, and of course the gardens love it…
(I didn’t realize that I had the long lens on my Nikon when I shuffled off to get these pictures between rains, but it’s an interesting change of our usual view…)
The Edible Garden
The Peace/Bird Garden
The Jose’ Family is moving into a new apartment even as we speak…err, write. Their new place has a large terrace and I’m excited to help Melissa plant and grow a nice garden. They still plan on visiting here at the Acres in a couple of weeks, so I’m gearing up for Camp. I’ll let you know as soon as I know when they’ll be here and we’ll plan parties!
Take care of yourselves! Watch out for mystery viruses!
Sorry for my absence, but I’ve been caught up in the World of Irish Dance, on the edge of my seat for the North American Irish Dancing Competition that was held in Montreal, Quebec, Canada this year. Emma placed #5 in the U16 group and Eliza placed #17 in the U11 pack. The Jose’ family, consisting of my daughter, Melissa, and son-in-law, Eric, as well as the two EE’s are having the time of their lives and it’s sweet to see.
In the meantime…the garden grows on…
What you don’t see — the bloopers, if you will — are this year’s fails. It seems all of our zucchini plants are boys, so no zucch forthcoming; something broke/ate the bottom stem of one of the canteloupe plants (we have three back-up); after a dozen nice sweet peppers, there is no sign of bloom or fruit. But, we’re feasting on tomatoes, brought in a couple of pounds of potatoes, and will soon have a bumper crop of cucumbers and green beans. I think we’re in the black…
We went up to the New Harmony Antiques Show yesterday and it was kinda sad. We have regularly attended this show for several decades and the last years have seen it dwindle with few vendors, but this year there were only a dozen antique booths set up and half of those were local stores. Inside the gym, where it is usually packed with sellers, there wasn’t much to see. The crowds were paltry, too. Antiques just aren’t a “thing” right now, but I couldn’t help but notice that the prices are outrageous…I guess they don’t mind carting that stuff around.
I like antiques, but mine are actual heirlooms, making them priceless despite their chips, cracks, and stains…
This morning I woke up early to get some garden work done, having been forewarned that there was a 100% chance of a severe storm set to appear about 1pm. Turns out, it all dried up and we’re settled into a couple of weeks sans precip alongside record hot temps and humidity, so I don’t regret the mistake.
My black-eyed Susans, just one group of plants, has been steadily infected with black spot, and I cut it back from the other plants, removing most of the affected leaves. I’ve ordered some copper-based fungicide to treat any small spots that may reappear, and I plan to do some serious division next spring.
BeforeAfter
I pulled up the peas and brought in the last harvest, a measly handful of dried pods, making room for the watermelons and cantaloupes to climb.
Here’s the latest photos of the Edible Garden…
Casey’s getting the mowing done and I’ve been just piddling around, relaxing and taking pictures.
Unfortunately, the WC Handy Bluesfest is this week and I wanted to go, but we’ll have to see…Stay safe, friends. Drink plenty of water–don’t wait until you’re thirsty–and stay inside if you have lung problems.
Gosh, it’s been 2 weeks since we last talked. I think I mentioned I was allergy-stricken, but I got pretty wheezy and went in to the nurse and was prescribed 6 days of Prednisone and given an inhaler. I can never decide if I love or hate Prednisone…on the one hand I feel all speedy and get-‘er-done-ish, but on the other hand I feel so sick and tired. Speedy always wins, though, and I got the gardens planted, the house cleaned, and stayed up all night learning Italian cooking with Lidia…
This is my new “cottage” garden, planted just across from the Peace/Bird Garden…
There are 21 plants here with hollyhocks and foxglove at the back with liatris, garden phlox, delphinium and lupine in the middle; at the front are coral bells, rosemary, and lavender. Most of the back plants will need to be staked, though you have to use your imagination to see that now.
The Edible Garden is going strong with corn poppin’ up, cucumbers jumping, and a small crop of green beans pulling themselves upright. Our peas are podding and the spinach is ready for harvest. I don’t want to talk about the beets and carrots and radishes– I just can’t thin seedlings properly– but the greens will be good! There are four each of watermelon and canteloupe planted, but they’re not doing anything, yet. We’re going to pull up the spring crop and plant some beans, as well as start some melons from seed between the existing plants, like insurance…
The roses have been stellar, their gentle scent pervading the front porch, but we knew they needed to be pruned soon after their first bloom. That pruning is now a priority as last night’s unrelenting rain has weighed them down.
Before we left for London I bought a new used camera, a Nikon D3300, an affordable upgrade from my antiquated D60; all my lenses fit it, too, so I just needed the body. I opted to not lug it around London, but I’ve been playing with it a lot around the house and gardens. I’m so happy to have my eye back in a viewfinder…
My #2 grandie, Olivia Mayne Casey aka Nova Casey, is graduating from 8th grade this week and we’re so excited! I’ll be snapping pics through my tears! Time flies, doesn’t it? Cherish Every Moment…
Behind the scenes of the scintillating life that I share with you on this blog is my Real Life. In my Real Life there are many relationships and each of them takes their turn at drama. Most of my family do Not read my blog, so I’m often tempted to spill the tea about them, but really I would rather just let it all be. However, Real Life intruded just last week when I delivered my Aunt Shirley’s ashes to her son Jeff’s house. I brought her ashes up from Florida last March and she’s been sitting on a shelf, surrounded by other family pictures. She’s been inspiring me — Shirley never was one to be quiet. — but it was time to move her along, getting her verry close to her final resting spot beside her Mom & Dad.
Aunt Shirley just before setting off on the last leg of her last trip to Grayville…
At any rate, I’ve had too many dramatic scenes played out for me this year, Distracting me from Ancestry research that I started Last Year and I was beginning to think I would Never Finish! I’m here to announce that I have, at last, added my great-grandmother’s family to my ancestry blog in a 3-part series published right Here: https://allmyancestry.wordpress.com/kinkade-mcwilliams-walker/
I still need to write a 4th chapter to tie up some loose ends, but I really need to move away from the family tree for the summer. Genealogy takes up so much time that I have to make it a seasonal hobby to make room for my gardening and travel, not to mention my Living Family!!
Here’s What’s Happening in the Gardens…
We decided to stake our zucchini this year…
…so far it’s working, but it isn’t helping them get pollinated so I need to attract bees. We’re looking at Bee Houses to attract Mason Bees, but it may be too late for this year…still studying. Any suggestions?
Ellis Park starts live racing Today…another reason I have to put away the genealogy. I’m skipping Opening Day, but I’ll be there In-Person on Thursday or Friday, or both…depends on the weather.
I suffered through another rainy, gloomy week and we’re now rewarded with sunny skies and oppressive humidity; it’s almost summer, finally, and as I sweat through my shirt I wonder why I longed for it.
Samantha went with us to the New Harmony Antiques Show yesterday.
I found some old sheet music, well-preserved, to buy and discovered we hadn’t brought cash with us, just enough for some drinks and treats. The prices at the show seemed very high, just like everything else lately, but I wonder how much they sold. It was a paltry showing of vendors, but the crowd was good.
The News from Sonnystone Acres 