and especially when im working in the yard and garden.
I've taken on the rose bushes as my special project. I have been cutting out all the dead stuff and picking off all the spotted leaves. Yesterday i weeded all around them and gave them some rose food and what is it called, systemic (?) help to fight the black spot. I also watered them, briefly, to get the food and preventative into the roots. Their usual source of water is the recycled water from the sinks and the shower. So with one person not using much water, one sinkfull of dish water a day and a short shower they are pretty dry. It looked like one was dying, all the new growth was facing downward. For the most part they are tall and spindly and don't have much in the way of foliage but, they are ever blooming which is nice and bloom beautifully the colors so vibrant; I love the yellow's.
I also tied up tomatoes yesterday. There are a few leggy volunteers growing in the middle of the bush beans . Everything looked tall and upright and lush in there yesterday morning but when i went back to the garden late afternoon it looked like something fell into the middle of the whole thing knocking it all down. Maybe wind, or maybe they just grew that much more during the day and since its so crowded the stems grew skinny and couldn't hold up the weight of the leaves. Whatever happened i don't know. But i tied up what i could.
Mary has thoughtfully planted bush beans, chili peppers and one eggplant in that raised bed and now there are also volunteer tomatoes and a big either squash or melon. I've picked 4 tomatoes so far from the tomato bed and can tell that another 4 or 5 will be ready in a day or two. Now Thats a great aroma, walking around the tomatoes? When you brush against them they give off that deep delicious fragrance.
Im enjoying working there in that sunny garden. Its very cheerful. There is a nice breeze, the air smells pretty, from the apples, and pine and different herbs and the roses . Also the smells from the forest. It's really a good space to spend time in.
So yesterday i had a good early start. Had breakfast, checked my email, had a nice phone conversation with Mary...worked in the garden and then i got the leaf blower going. I walked around blowing leaves off the deck and patio and yard and driveway and path toward the pond. It took a few tries to get it going but i did. However, i notice im lacking in technique when it comes to getting them off of the lawn. Which is green and fine and long.
And also not quite getting the hang of it where it comes to seperating the leaves from the gravel driveway. At first im blowing dust and gravel and leaves in great choking puffs but then level off the blower and let off on the power a bit and it settles.
im working on it.
Then i got out the woodstain. I finished the deck. Im glad i went and got the can of matching stain. It looks pretty good. There are some darker spots but all in all im happy with the way it came out. I am finding that i love painting. Something satisfying about it. Good exercise for shoulders and arms and upper back too. I hope Mary's horsewoman friend the lovely Lisa will give me some more work to do on her fence, painting.
I cleaned up the roller and pan and brush from staining. When i was squatting down washing them out i was startled by what sounded like a pack of kids running through the woods at a breakneck speed down the hill in the woods behind the garage toward the direction of the driveway. I peered up there and saw black legs, i thought it was a skinny kid wearing long tight jeans, until the first one burst out of the woods and just shot across the driveway followed by another and another and another set of 4 legs. The deer family. And after they ran out of my range of hearing onto the clearing in the front where there are no leaves to rustle I heard 5 loud shots. I assume from a shotgun. Just beyond the far end of the property. They must have gotten too close to some ones crops. I hope none of them got hit.
That was the only deer activity all day yesterday. And that was the first time i'd seen them since the other night when i saw them all grazing and the fawns playing in the meadow. I'll be surprised if i see them again anytime soon. Im sure they must have been startled themselves by the racket from the leaf blower. And Stevie Nicks on the boom box.
After that little commotion , when i was done cleaning up after the staining project , I got the sythe out again. This time i was cutting down the long grass that has grown over the path to the pond, and also i began clipping back some of the wild rose which has also blocked the path to the deck at the pond. I haven't found the right tool yet to effectively cut them back. Ill try something else today. The Hedge clippers don't cut through the tough stems. I have a large choice though of other tools like the branch cutter ( loper) that i use at home when i am cutting back branches on my spruce tree away from the neighbor's driveway.
I had some soup for supper. I had made a big batch of stock with 4 chicken thighs 2 weeks ago and froze it in small containers. I just take a container out every other day or so and add whatever veggies are around. or some rice , which i cooked a batch of and froze in small containers too. last night i had a tasty zuchinni and an ear of corn and a carrot in the soup and some noodles.
i tried to watch some television. checked my email. went to bed around 10:30.
The first morning i woke up in this bed, from the sky lightening up it was 4:30AM, that was about 2 1/2 weeks ago give a day or two.
But i've been sleeping till almost 6 lately. So last night i set the alarm. I don't want my re-entry to reality in the Eastern Time Zone to be too traumatic. Guess what? 4:30? AM....... STILL PITCH BLACK with stars twinkling. I did lie there watching them till they dissappeared one by one into the morning light. Till i could see the sky between the lower branches of the tall pines turning rosy pink and golden. Still no blue yet..........and then i fell back asleep. Till 7:30! So much for my re-entry plan.
When i re- awoke i was shaking. I don't know the cause of it. It happens to me every so often. Before i get out of bed, its like my head wakes up before my body does. I thought maybe low blood pressure or low blood sugar . It happens if i get a lot of sleep or even if i don't. So i don't know. I loaded up on tea and juice and water. I had my leftover soup for breakfast. (Out of yogurt and eggs and trying to cut out bread and cereal). Im better now. But i should get up and moving about.
Im going to just vacume and dust today and clean the bathroom Oh also check the garden , and clip those bushes by the pond. Walk, take some pictures.
Tomorrow morning im going to try to make it to the farmers market, down in Oroville and go to the post office and meet Fran some where between Oroville and Berry Creek so she can follow me back to the house.
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Im having company Saturday and Sunday......Fran is driving up! And i've invited Larry to come over Sunday. He has wanted to meet her. We're going to see what she'd like to do. Maybe a trip to Bucks Lake for lunch , im going to suggest Granite Basin. Or if she is tired of being in the car from her long drive then we can stay here and just relax and i can cook something for everyone.
anyone have a good recipe for Sangria and for Gazpacho?
write when you have time! xo Mom/Sally
PS........THE BIG NEWS! KEITH AND NICOLE AND JAKE AND ZACK ARE BEING JOINED IN DECEMBER BY BABY BOY #3....IM JUST DELIGHTED.....WE'RE ALL VERY HAPPY......
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