An early morning shot of the bridal veil spirea. It’s in shadow, so I’ll try to take one later in the day after we’ve finished mowing. But, as you can see, it’s laden with blooms this year. Sometimes there are less flowers, but it sure is spectacular this year! Same with the lilacs. I just looked up (via search on this blog) when I planted the lilac bush: May 2008. So it’s taken 13 years for it to get to this point. In gardening, patience is a virtue.
I take no credit for the spirea. It was here when we moved in and I suspect it’s been there for a long time, just as the peonies have. The peonies and the spirea live right at the edge of the culvert down by the road.
Today we mow. We’re so silly – both of us woke up excited at the prospect of mowing. It’s highly satisfying and it’s also good exercise.
The seeds have been sown, all the pots have been filled. The only thing I have yet to do is mulch and I’ll do that on Monday and Tuesday. We’re due for rain tomorrow.
In the meantime, I watched one of the robins fly back and forth to the nest this morning. I haven’t seen the wrens at all lately, so I am, of course, worried that something happened to them, or their babies – if they had them. The female sits on the eggs for 10 – 16 days, so maybe she’s in there? Don’t know. If only I had a camera in that little trailer!
Don is making some eggs to, and I quote, “fortify us for mowing.” Okay! I’m lucky, and I know it, that he likes to cook. Both Meredith and I married guys who do most of the cooking.
Okay my friends, have to go. As soon as we go get the lawn mower from the shed, that robin will go nuts.
Stay safe.
Happy Saturday.
My guy does all the cooking too. As someone who lived with anorexia for a good part of my life (now corrected), if I was in charge of meals, we’d not eat! I do love to help, especially when we have guests or it’s a special holiday. Such a treat though to have someone who loves to cook be the chef!
Have a great weekend!
Chy
It is!
Stay safe, Chy!
hej, chy …
congratulations on overcoming a tough foe!
i hope no one, especially you, minds the question and if it feels too personal, i apologize and say please don’t answer … but if you’re willing to share, please, what made the difference, what helped you defeat an eating disorder? asking for someone i love. thanks much.
hope you have a nice weekend ahead!
thanks again. sending a virtual hug, if you like.
kathy in iowa
I don’t mind answering at all Kathy. Thank you for asking.
For many who live with anorexia or develop it, body image is one catalyst and often what others think of as the driving force. For myself, I have battled extensive food allergies all my life and on top of being terrified that I would either a.) forget my epiPens one day and die cause I can’t get to an ER in time OR b.) eat something that has been cross contaminated with something that would literally kill me. Sounds dramatic but anaphylactic reactions can come on with seconds of ingesting something the body cannot handle. I avoided eating a lot out of fear but ate enough to sustain so I wouldn’t have to go in to treatment. When I found my naturopath, after testing and in depth discussions about my health, we discovered not only do I have allergies that everyone knew about, I also have been living with undiagnosed Reflux (my throat and esophagus were raw during test), as well as congenital and again, undiagnosed Hiatal Hernia. We can’t fix the Hernia in the moment in our district, but we were able to get my Reflux under control. I have grown up all my life NOT knowing that food should be enjoyable but for me, every bit I take hurts. Now it does not hurt as much and with all the things I’ve learned, I’ve been able to figure out what I can eat without causing pain.
Long story short, life long pain kept me away from enjoying food, hence the anorexia, but now I’m at a healthy weight and enjoy, most days, eating foods I know will not harm me or hurt to eat. I hope this long ramble made sense!
Thanks for the hug, Kathy. Much welcomed!
X Chy
Sounds like a bucolic day (I hope that’s a positive word!). Someone left you lasting beauty on that property. Enjoy!
I’d say bucolic is the perfect word!
Thank you Nora.
Stay safe!
Enjoy your day! It is nice to be outdoors working on the yard especially when the Spring weather cooperates!
It sure is. And today is a spectacularly beautiful day!
Stay safe, Ellen.
such beauty … glad it’s there for you and most of it because of your efforts.
and that you enjoy mowing (especially since you have such a big lawn)!
hope you see the wrens soon and the robins will understand and relax.
had an early start today by taking my car in for an oil change/safety check. they make no appointments for that and i’ve learned to go early. was there by 6:45 am and it’s across town (at the dealer where i bought it eight years ago). unfortunately, they found a “loose ball joint” that will be fixed next friday … about $1,200 … not fun, but part of life on earth.
in a few minutes i will go get groceries, deliver them and visit with members of my family. :) pretty weather here, too, so hope to go for a walk.
happy saturday, claudia, don and everyone else here! stay safe.
kathy in iowa
Sorry about the car! But definitely a part of our daily lives.
Stay safe, Kathy.
That bridal veil spirea is gorgeous…lasting beauty from a fellow gardener I presume.
I’ve been taking my time planting the past two days…still just a bit more to do. And…it’s been fun! Dirt under my nails, good weather, no bugs to bother me…heavenly. I’ll finish up by Monday, and mulch next week. Seems like it’s all been a long time coming!
I just love the smell of grass that’s been freshly mown. Happy mowing! ;)
Yes. Some previous owner planted it.
Enjoy being outside, Donna!
Stay safe.
My daughter took the aft off yesterday and came out to help plant. We got a lot done, but still quite a bit to pot up. We just face timed and talked about all of the plants she has and their placements, etc. Always a busy time of year!! I think today is a resting day. I will plant some more tomorrow. It is a cloudy and quite cool day today with a high of only 60*. Back to the 70’s next week. And NO signs of any frost which is most important and appreciated. My Bridal Wreath is about 60 years old, my in-laws planted it when this was their home. My FIL told me the story before he passed that he was at a dental appt and the dentist asked if he would like a Bridal Wreath as he had many. My FIL said sure. He was so surprised about 3 weeks later when his dental bill arrived and there was $1.50 added on it with Bridal Wreath written in the description column. Must have been his side hustle!!!?? Some years it is laden with flowers, but this year it is very very sparse. I believe that Mother Nature dances to the music which only she hears.
Hope the mowing is going well. Take care.
What a story! Charged for the Bridal Wreath!
I moved the fern outside yesterday. I guess it’s spring!
Stay safe, Chris.
It sounds like a full and good day for you! Well done on the seed sowing and repotting. I’m nearly done — some seeds for the garden will settle that. I’m going to the herb nursery on Wednesday and that will do it for new plants — I need a couple of basil plants (my seeds just seem to be failing me this year) and some rosemary; then pot those and the catnip and I’m done till the zinnias I started get a bit larger.
The spirea looks glorious. I’m loving the sweet smells of spring, even though it can be a challenge to live with once they get inside the house!
Celebrate this lovely weekend!
I was mowing yesterday and I got a waft of scent from the spirea. I never think of it as having scent, but sure enough, it does. Subtle, but lovely.
Stay safe, Jeanie.
My husband does most all of the cooking (for the entirety of our married life). I’ve hated cooking since I was a child; just never took to it. Completely uninterested. (As a young single adult for a dozen-more years before I met my husband, I lived with a microwave and food cooked by somebody else, ala Stouffers. The bad thing about that and doing takeout/drive-thru all the time is that you can’t control the calories and carbs [and it’s a lot of expense!], so I was always fighting weight gain and had to offset it with a lot of physical exercise, back in the day [I was a big walker, did yoga with an instructor; rode a horse for a few years, did some skating and skiing; lap swims; bicycle riding; ballet; also something of that former era called Jazzercise [more classes with a coach; kind of cardio-dance instruction; maybe they still have it; I think it’s HQ’d in SoCalif, come to think of it].)
Anyway, the deal when we got married was that he cooks and I clean up; has worked for us. (I’m the same with shopping for food, too; I’d rather clean a toilet than go to the grocery store.) However, I do enjoy collecting vintage cookbooks and recipes. I wish I actually DID have a talent for cooking because I feel it takes a lot of skill and coordination; I have a lot of admiration for a good cook. (And inventiveness; it takes creativity to cook well! It’s also a kind of food management; the captain of the ship. Being in charge! Pulling it all together [I just didn’t get that gene].)
I’m glad I remembered to tell my elderly mom in her final years, of how grateful and amazed I became as I aged too, in how she got an excellent meal on the table for our small family, day in and day out when I was growing up, with never a complaint and often on so little money. She was a busy, working woman but she made a meal plan each week and stuck to it; was very organized; fixed food according to season and store specials; used coupons. I crave some of her rotation of those favorite meals, have tried to see if we could duplicate them, but she obviously had a magic touch although she wasn’t entirely a from-scratch cook (she used a few boxed/canned helps along the way yet always questioned the nutritional value so would supplement). It wasn’t a huge repertoire and she was a practical kind of cook (there was no Julia Child going on in her kitchen) but the food was absolutely delish and I miss it SO much.
Your garden is ALIVE, Claudia. So nice that you share with us; that we can see it return to life for Spring/Summer. Have a great weekend despite the rain. At least you’re not having to spend as much time watering the yard/garden right now. Like, with us in SoCalif with zero rain, my husband waters every day (diff sections of the yards and hillside; I swear it’s like a full-time job). He does it responsibly, slowly and deeply; takes a lot of time (with indeed a timer; he’s very precise and careful about it) and patience (it’s not hand-watering but has to be done with a series of hoses, drip irrigation, sprinklers, etc.). We have to be vigilant about water conservation in drought-ridden SoCalif and have to get cool with the fact that, likely well into summer, we’ll be dealing with water restriction; so, until then, just trying to keep everything from dying. We’re in May Gray which can precede June Gloom here, but the sun glares harshly in the afternoons, frying my roses and geraniums. They’re both struggling at the moment. (And I’ve had NO jacaranda sightings yet, Claudia!! [But our ornamental maple tree is full and lush with the rusty-red leaves as is our bougainvillea with the bright magenta. And the local sycamore trees are the most lovely spring-green.])
My mom was a great cook, too. All homemade. She purchased virtually no prepared foods. All from scratch.
Fingers crossed that you see a jacaranda soon. I think the two things I miss from Southern California are the jacarandas and bougainvillea.
Stay safe!