Friday, July 20, 2012

July 20 2012

Here we are, Sadie and I in our temporarily testosterone-free zone since I put Brian on the plane yesterday to L.A. Cara and Chris sent him a ticket to spend a week with them, getting reacquainted with his grandsons. Should be fun for him, and there will be a birthday party while he's there as well - Dashy, the middle boy, is turning six.

Other very happy news is that my mother is going home on Monday, doing very very well walking long distances with her walker, and best of all, is mostly pain-free. Of course everyone at the rehab facility was impressed, she is always their star patient, and always does way more than anyone expects. I am so lucky she's my mom!

Now for the garden news: from several days ago when the temperatures broke 100, here's a shot of our pond with water lilies and frog. It looks so peaceful, and the trickle of water that feeds it (yes, so far, even in the drought there's a trickle) is very soothing.

And here's my home-grown proof of global warming: the gladiolas are blooming again for the third year in a row, NOT having been dug up for the winter as I did for our first few years here. Glads are originally a South American plant, so it made sense to me to dig, especially since everyone we know who's lived here longer has always done so. But after a few years, there were less and less bulbs to dig up, as critters were always munching away; or it was too wet and they rotted; or something else happened. So I believed I had lost them all despite my care. And then, several summers ago, there they were, blooming from bits of bulbs that had survived. Now I just cover their bed with a thick layer of leaves in the fall, and uncover in the late spring (having rounded up all the volunteers and anally replanted them to my calligrapher's satisfaction).

Our vegetable garden is finally producing, we have an abundance of cucumbers where we had none at all last year. Lots of lettuce still, lots of basil, and both the tomato and pepper plants have very large vegetables on them, just not quite ready to pick yet. And as today, in the rain, the thermometer never got above 65, it may be a while yet...

Also very welcome was our garlic harvest. Did you know the swirly tops are called "scapes" and considered a delicacy? I didn't - but once I read about it, I went and salvaged what I'd tossed on top of the compost heap (it was just a few minutes, really!), sliced as directed and fried. They were very tasty! And the garlic themselves are really pungent. I'll save the last one to replant for next year.

That's the news from here. More when we harvest the rest of the treats!