garden — Page 104

Flowering, Reading

June 13, 2018 at 8:42 am by Claudia

At the very beginning of spring, I noticed feathery leaves growing in the corral. They looked a lot like yarrow. I have some yarrow that self-seeded growing in the chicken wire fence garden, where I plant morning glories and zinnias. So I waited and watched them grow and when it came time to start mowing, I mowed around them.

Yep. It’s yarrow. I’ve tried to take a picture that shows you how beautiful they look in the corral, but try as I might, I can’t get one. This is the best I can do at the moment.

There are more plants growing along the fence line.

It’s like I suddenly have a mini-meadow. I hope they come back next year.

The lavender that I potted is quite tall now and flowers have started to appear.

The catalpa is in bloom. I’m sure the other catalpas up in the woods are also in bloom, I just haven’t seen them yet. I was on the porch yesterday and the scent of the flowers wafted my way. Heavenly.

It got windy later in the day and there are a lot of flowers on the ground. Today, we’re due for some rain and storms. And then there will be more flowers on the ground. Short lived, these blooms. I can’t rescue them, they don’t do well in a vase, but I’ll rescue my peonies if necessary.

Isn’t that a beautiful flower?

Rose update (these blooms last about two days, by the way.)

I mowed yesterday because it has to be done. I did pretty well and am feeling a bit better. There’s still more mowing to be done, but I’m pacing myself. I’m also reading the latest Lee Child on my iPad. A novel. I’ve been on such a long stretch of not being able to concentrate on anything other than nonfiction, so this makes me happy.

Meredith uses her iPad all the time and that’s what inspired me to dig mine out the other day. It had been so long that I had forgotten that I had my Kindle books downloaded there. It has a bigger screen than my Kindle (where that little piece of technology is at the moment, I have no idea) and I think it’s easier to read. Anyway, I was inspired to visit Amazon and I downloaded a few books, one of which was Lee Child’s latest Jack Reacher, which was published last November. I’ve read all of them, but hadn’t read that one. Lee Child’s style is so straight-forward. It’s in the first person and Jack Reacher is no-nonsense, so it isn’t so heavily written that I might drift away, if you know what I mean. I’m more than halfway through. Maybe this will be the breakthrough I need.

I can’t even talk about what is happening to our country and our moral standing in the world, or the cages in which immigrants are being held, or the separation of children from their parents. ICE equals Gestapo. Each day brings more assaults on the principles we hold dear, the compassion we should hold dear, the rule of law – much of it being done by ‘faux’ Christians. We won’t even get into the glorification of murderous dictators. Call your Reps. Demand change. And vote.

I need an escape. I swear, there are times I’d like to move to Canada. My mom was born there. Three out of my four grandparents were born there. Maybe I could just slip across the border?

Just kidding. Sort of.

Alternatively, living off the grid sounds increasingly tempting. And that is something I’m not kidding about.

Sigh. Anyway, if I write about it, I get more angry and I need to stay calm. Breathe deep.

Happy Wednesday.

My Favorite Week

June 9, 2018 at 10:21 am by Claudia

Stop the presses!

It’s my favorite week of the year.

Because:

And because:

Not to mention these, which are blooming everywhere:

And these buds on the catalpa tree, which will open this week and fill the property with their glorious scent.

None of which, by the way, I had anything to do with. The wild roses were already established (and they’re invasive,) the peonies were planted long ago by previous home owner, and the catalpa has been here (along with four other catalpas up in the woods) for years and years.

This week, when they all take off and blossom, is my happiest week in the garden. Frothy little white flowers on all the edges of the property, beautiful peonies down by the entrance to the driveway, and beautiful blossoms high up in the catalpa tree.

I texted a photo of a peony to Don last night, with the caption “They’re here!”

It’s also a simply beautiful morning. I’ve been sitting on the glider for about two hours now. I don’t want to leave. So I went inside and grabbed the laptop so I could write today’s post outside. Birds are singing, the bullfrog is doing his thing, cyclists – both bicycle and motorcycle – are passing by.

I’m going to stay out here most of the day. Tomorrow morning, I’m going into the city for a couple of days, returning Tuesday. Since Don’s time there is limited now, I know he wants to lap up all he can, while he can, so I decided I would go to him. Then it will be back home to start the mowing process again. I’m not complaining. I come alive in the spring and summer.

Yesterday, I stopped at my local nursery and picked up a few more plants. I planted some additional coneflowers in the big garden bed because I love them and I know they reseed and will go a long way toward filling up the side of the bed that’s closest to the maple tree. I also bought another hollyhock.

And these, for the vintage plant stand:

More lobelia, which will get bigger and spread and the tendrils will hopefully go between the wires (I’m already training them.) This must be the summer of lobelia: my hanging plants, the pot on the table, which is full of purple and white lobelia, and these newest additions. There’s something romantic about lobelia in this kind of rusty vintage plant stand. I like it.

We’re slowly getting used to ETM closing. But it’s very hard for the cast. No one would know watching it, but the joy has diminished a bit. How could it not? We’re in mourning but time helps ease the pain a bit. I would do anything to protect my husband from this. But I can’t. I can be with him as much as I can, however. Meanwhile, the landlord has begun showing the apartment and that makes Don sad. He really loves that apartment and I know he’d give anything to keep it. If we were wealthy, we’d rent it. But it rents for more than our hefty mortgage payment. The whole thing makes me unbelievably sad. I cry a lot.

Okay. I’m going to hang out here today, along with a little garden work and weed pulling.

Happy Saturday.

Around the Garden

June 8, 2018 at 10:07 am by Claudia

They’re all over the property, these beautiful wild roses, which just a month or so ago I was cutting down because they are also known as pesky brambles. And they’re a pain in the tush. But for a few weeks every June, they bloom and there are clouds of sweet scented white flowers everywhere.

Here they are flanking the path to one of our crabapple trees, just off the secret garden. I wish they bloomed all summer long.

The second day of the first rose to bloom. So lovely.

Soon to be gone poppies.

Opening any day now. About a week later than usual – the first time that’s happened in the 12 years we’ve lived here.

On the porch.

The tragic suicides of Kate Spade and Anthony Bourdain this week are deeply shocking and very sad. Despite money, fame and all the things that we on the outside think must make for a perfect life, we never truly know the battles that are being waged in private. For anyone. I’ve lost more than a few friends to suicide. It’s heartbreaking and seemingly senseless to those who are left behind. “But she had a child!” “He had an amazing job and life!” “But he/she was rich!” “How could you leave a child behind?”

It’s a tragic permanent solution for the person who, in that one moment in time, can see no other solution to the pain that rages within. When nothing matters but relief.

Remember to be kind. To reach out with a smile. To never assume you know what someone’s life is like.

If the only thing we lived by was kindness, this world would be a better place. It wouldn’t solve everything. It wouldn’t magically erase mental illness. But it would go a long way toward making the world a gentler place to live in.

Happy Friday.

Flowering, Reading

My Favorite Week

Around the Garden

Lambs Like to Party

A Note

Archives