August 19 2008

After the heat of July, we've had unseasonably cool nights for a week this month. While that meant the lettuce continued to be edible long past expectation, and we did get quite a nice group of chilies (that's two relleno dinners so far, yum!), the tomatoes are still waiting on the vines, lots and lots of different kinds and sizes but none ripe. As I've been delivering the overflow cucumbers to our neighbor monks for a few weeks now, they too are eagerly awaiting what will certainly be an impressive number of tomatoes ready all at once. Since there are about 20 nuns and monks in full time residence at the monastery now, I'm sure every one will be eaten.

The coneflowers are now really tall, almost all are pink with just a very few off-white stands here and there, even though I thought I put more white seed out last year. The goldfinches are gathering around as I hoped, to snack on the seeds as the plants die back - at least those I don't cut to bring inside. The marigolds are just huge this year, and after a slow start, have filled in quite nicely and nod their not so little faces in the sun in such cheerful, busy clusters, I can't help but smile back. While I was checking yet again to see if any tomatoes were getting soft to the touch, I was accompanied by two little hummingbirds. Amazing little creatures, they hovered a plant or two down from the ones I was checking as we all three moved down the row. I welcome the company, and am always delighted anew at their speed and delicacy.

We are still fighting with the moles (or voles) for possession of the hydrangea. They make new tunnels that drain it's water basin; we fill the holes; they make new tunnels; and so it goes. There's what Brian and I had planned, what the land wants to do, and then the random things that happen because of the other critters living here or passing through. We can't imagine how minnows got into the pond, since it has an outtake pipe that reason tells me should deposit them all on the ferns every time the rains lift the water level, but there they are, clearly not tadpoles (though there are dozens of them too). And plants coming up in unexpected places, thoughtfully planted by the chipmunks or squirrels or birds - like the sunflower that just appeared in the rock wall. Or, my favorite find, stands of wildflowers like the purple "strife" that is starting to flower in the back jungle, or the really lovely stand of Queen Anne's Lace lining up along the edge of the flat mowed grassy area next to the vegetable cage. When I walk along the road in the morning it's quite a sight, white Queen Anne's Lace, purple strife and clover, yellow ragweed, blue chicory, and smaller little wildflower blooms on vining stems that are orange.

I've already dried quite a bit of mint for tea this winter, replanted the onion sets I still hope may grow large enough to eat next year, have been harvesting the Italian basil and grinding and freezing pesto cubes, and this week will start dividing the ornamental allium bulbs and digging them in for the winter. I'm encouraged to see some small columbine, bleeding hearts, and coneflowers popping up in the front terracing, too. Plans for repositioning some of the perennials in the lower terraces will wait for a few weeks, but as we've now mapped it out, by next year the plantings will actually go all the way down the hillside to the pond. What an achievement! as the last vestiges of the former garbage dump is reclaimed as a flower garden.

July 14 2008

Bonnie got adopted to her perfect family last week, as you can see by the matching hair coloring (at least for mom and son, sorry dad!). I've had such good reports from all three of my (former) foster dogs, it's a pleasure to think of each one happily wagging tail or lack thereof in their various safe and loving homes. Especially since there are continuing sad stories, in dogdom and so many other places these days ...

Now temporarily dogless, I returned to the unending War on Weeds which will in fact outlast any other wars as it will never be completely over. Some parts of the garden had done reasonably well during my season of neglect, but in other places the weeds were well over three feet high and one had to know just where to look to see the plantings. Days and many bug bites later, at least the flower beds are re-emerging. My reward for this night's round of weeding was to add the long stems of yellow day lilies to the bergamot, coneflowers and hosta sprays. The deer have graciously been absent or grazing only lightly, thus we actually have lilies and hosta flower sprays. For the time being, anyway.

The vegetable garden cage is working in that no wood creature has breached the chicken wire yet, and our tomato plants are about four feet tall and loaded with small green tomatoes. The cucumbers have already been tasted, and I will probably take a bag of them over to the monastery as when they are ready, they are ALL ready, and I have no genius idea what to do with a dozen cukes except chop and eat. Recipes, anyone? The oregano and Italian basil are doing great, the purple basil not well at all. Next year no purples! The Cubano chilies have four big potential rellenos on the plants already, I'm hoping for two more before we fire up the grill and roast them. And what I thought might be parsley, and carefully dug up and transplanted safe behind the wire, is a carrot, wild or otherwise, which is now sending up stalks of "Queen Anne's Lace" flowers that are as tall as I am. For some reason this plant really annoys Brian, who keeps threatening to come out one night and yank it up. I'm not sure why, it's not particularly in any plant's way and the flowers are quite nice, I think, though their tendency to drop little specks of white flower petals everywhere don't work so well on the table.

And so it goes, dogs and flowers still my main focus, with the occasional power outage (only 4 hours Sunday night, over at 4:30 a.m., an hour earlier than predicted) to make me feel grateful for electricity and running water as well as the generator, my favorite appliance. Thanks to Gen, no need to trek up and down to the pond for toilet flushing water! What luxury! And I can only hope you feel the same.

June 10 2008

After 3 days of 100 degree heat, today it was only in the high 80's, so we took our new foster dog for our usual walk. Bonnie, as you can see, is a lovely girl - but what you can't see is how very small she is, only 30 pounds. She's very affectionate, likes to stay close, and has wonderful manners in the house. Unfortunately, walking her is a lot like putting a truffle-sniffing pig on a leash. She is much more interested in sniffing everything her nose can reach, and snuffles up the road with her head down and her belly almost on the ground! Amusing, but not what the Dog Whisperer would approve. Otherwise she's a joy to have around, as all these dogs have been. My guess is she won't be here long, as she's so appealing and house broken as well.

In garden news, the iris are almost done, the peonies have opened everywhere, and the wild daisies are about to take over the south garden entirely. There are some day lilies blooming too, but the coneflowers, though they've set flower heads, wilt every day in the heat, even when it rains or we water. Too hot too fast for them - and me too! But I'm adding some shots of the garden that we took in the last week or so, to give you an idea of what's happening.

The other big news is that after only 5 years here, I have a calligraphy student! Once a week won't make me wealthy, but it's so nice to have someone who wants to learn what I love to teach. And since the second lesson is tonight, I'll leave you with these photos to look over. Let me know what you think (I will forward all compliments to Bonnie).

May 27 2008

Brian's birthday today, and the garden is his biggest gift. The bearded iris have finally opened in the two-day heat we've had, and I was able to fill the house with four large arrangements of them. It's almost like living in a greenhouse! But the weird weather and it's implications continue. Our lilacs are still on the bush, while not only the peonies but also several day lilies are ready to bloom. I guess there really isn't a season for this any more, just whatever the weather is that day/week/month. I still have plenty of happy violas springing up in all kinds of unlikely places, much of the color carpet of creeping phlox is also still around (as till it got a bit too hot it was unseasonably cold), the big rhododendron bushes have grapefruit-sized brilliant hot pink blooms everywhere, and even some wild daisies have popped open. It's quite a display.

In other news, Arley the adorable got adopted last Saturday by a wonderful couple who will love him forever (that's always the goal). It was, as I've seen before, love at first sight, at least for them. Since Arley is so shy, I assumed the fact that he didn't flee when they came out for their first introductory visit a week before, meant these were the folks. And when I got my first check-in call, I was so relieved to hear that he had settled right in, and was not at all upset by the fact that the entire neighborhood, alerted by doting doggie dad, turned out to meet him. He was fine with all the dogs, kids, and adults, each of whom wanted at least a moment to pet/sniff/examine him. He's come a long way from the scared little guy who would bolt at the sound of a match striking! Best of all, he will be in his last, best "forever" home this Saturday, when he has his 5th birthday. Party is planned, I can't wait to hear how that turns out.

I had a truly wonderful Mother's Day as Hyla came out to visit, bringing her doting parents Lisa and Josh. Since I'm not a blood relative, I assume that my assessment of Hyla as the cutest, smartest, most wonderful girl in creation is completely unbiased. There were lots of pictures taken, and I've never seen so many shots of myself looking so happy - it's just impossible not to smile when I see this little one! And she cordially smiles back.

That's most of what's happening here. We are weeding, carrying up logs from downed trees, weeding, setting out marigold seeds, weeding, expecting another foster dog in a week or two, and weeding. Keeps me going!

April 27 2008

April is full of surprises out here as we continue to careen from season to season. On the 4th we had snow flurries, a week later it was 80 (yes, really, 80!), and right now the weather is near perfect. Sunny but not too hot, the daffodils in this shot have already died back, but later blooms including the double ruffles are still around. The cascading rhododendrons still have some blooms, and the big bright pink rhods are not yet open. Lilacs are setting buds, creeping phlox showing some color, and the forsythia are a shrieking yellow that goes so well with the daffs. I'm trying to root some of the stems I forced indoors a few weeks ago, we have plans to put them on the lower hillside if they do indeed root. Seems likely as they've got lots of leaves on the stems, but only time will tell.

My beloved wood violets are coming up in places both expected and unexpected. The garlic bed has an entire ground cover of blooming white violets that I have no recollection of planting, and they are scattering themselves among the lower terraces in wild abandon. We've not yet bought our vegetables or the usual violas and pansies for color spots, as we'll be gone for a week, and will do that when we return. But as with the violets, the violas happily seeded themselves in the most amazing places - they seem to really like the crannies in the rock walls, where I carefully pry them out and set them as front terrace borders. So even without a trip to the nursery, I have some happy flower faces to see. And the tulips - how amazing! A bunch of bright red flowers come up each year a few inches from the dryer vent; that certainly worked out well. And as I now know where they are, and check for them, I can spray them with the Deer Minders spray (not to be confused with Deer Off or Deer Deterrent or any of the other things I got that never worked) and the deer do not eat them!

Columbine both wild and cultivated are sprouting, hostas poking through the ground, irises already a foot and a half high and loving the unseasonable warm spells. Since it's still so early I'm poking through what's left of the leaf litter from last fall and every once in a while find something I completely forgot. We're now in our fifth gardening season and I can see the reason for a minimum five-year plan for a garden bigger than a city lot. Brian is always very busy at this time of year resetting the stone walls that winter snows and later rains move around, and we've had to replant some things that just didn't like our first location choice for them.

But all in all it's extremely satisfying to stroll around (after hours of weeding) and see the results of our years of work. The place really looks like gardeners live here! And just to remind us who this really belongs to, our group of four deer tromp through often enough to make their point that they were here first. And a few days ago Mr. and Mrs. Mallard showed up again for a brief pond feeding. As much as I don't "heart" New York, even I can see how someone would fall in love with this area - if one saw it first in the spring!

March 21 2008

And now, even more exciting than watching tomatoes grow: Arley the Adorable! This little guy was handed off to us a week and a half ago by his grandparents, who actually do care about him. When we got him he was so very scared and shaky, I didn't see a wag for the first several days. But now, he's making up for lost time and wags what is a very abbreviated tail along with his entire back end. Arley has been in two homes in less than five years (his birthday is in May, feel free to send early gifts), clearly because his people couldn't see what a great dog he is. He was described as "hyper", having behavior problems, and a host of other less than complimentary things on his surrender papers (from the owner I never met/heard from, who is the son of the doting grandparents). All I can say is if there were behavior problems, clearly they were on the part of the humans involved. Arley sleeps like a little angel in his crate all night long without protest, walks no worse on his leash than any other Britt, and is a very easy boy to have around. A little food, water, and a few belly rubs and he's content. My guess is the last place, where he was crated from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m, then again all night, was not the right environment for any dog. In any case, he's here now, and, as I frequently reassure him, is safe and appreciated. So here is my Purim/Easter/Spring gift to you - Arley in multiple shots!

February 8 2008

More baby news as our lead story! Eamon was born to Cara and Chris on January 30, and welcomed by his big brothers Liam and Dashiell (it's still hard for me to see either as "big", Liam the Elder is just 4 1/2 year old himself). Everyone is doing well, the two big brothers are delighted with the new family member and of course the proud parents and grandparents are too. As with Hyla (who will be the princess of the clan, the only girl), I'll let the photo speak for Eamon rather than string together paeans of grandparental praise.

And the second big story (which would be "below the fold" if one could fold cyberspace) is another in our ongoing series "More than you ever wanted to know about tomatoes". Again, I'll let the photo do most of the work. Yes, the toms are indeed tiny but absolutely real and much to my amazement the Aerogarden continues to live up to it's advertising, with things pretty much chugging along as per the reams of instructions and paperwork that accompanied the unit. I continue to check them many times a day, and was relieved to find out over the last few days that I was not hallucinating the even tinier tomatoes I spotted (sans magnifying glass, I'm so proud I can still see something with my original eyes) two days ago when they were approximately the size of a pinhead. I guess all those years of calligraphy and attention to detail are coming in handy in a whole other realm.

Aside from the riveting news above, I am happy to report we have not had the winter pummeling my family is experiencing along with everyone else in the Chicago area. In fact, on Wednesday last I was sure I heard wrong when the weatherman out of NYC casually announced it was 67 - but Lisa, NYC resident and mother of Hyla, confirmed that in fact it was 68 that day. Not so warm here, but enough warmth and some much-welcomed rain cleared away enough snow for us to see that we have indeed been invaded by the mole people. Tunnels everywhere on the flats, and a hole in one of the iris beds that's almost the size of a basketball. I surmise that the rains collapsed some of the tunnels and the large hole is our version of the sinkholes that appear on California highways after heavy rains. At least ours can't swallow the house - yet! Brian was out today waging mole wars. It's an ongoing action.. We can outsmart them (most of the time) but they definitely outnumber us. And much like the deer, are very clear about the fact that they think we are intruding on THEIR land. If I could get them to pay the property taxes I might have more sympathy for their position.

Next week I'm off to the Chicago area, hoping to see all four of my great nieces and nephews as well as their parents, and of course have lots of plans for outings with Mom, mostly revolving around our hunt for the perfect hot fudge sundae. More news when I return!