Yeah, well, it's pretty much official. I belong in the garden. yesterday was stressful...I tend to overreact to feedback. Seems I *Gasp HORRORS! Oh no, pack a bag and head for the hills, the end is nigh* inserted a semicolon instead of a comma between the dates in a citation. Yeah. I know. But this is the sort of thing copy editors argue over (politely) and lay awake at night worrying about. At any rate, somewhere around a sleepless 4 a.m. I decided You know what? I'm too damned old to be letting this sort of thing rule my life anymore. I got up late (around 6 a.m....I think I got about 2 hours of real sleep) and instead of getting straight to work on the laptop, I went outside, fed and played with the feral kittens, then went into the veg and did some weeding. Could actually FEEL the muscles in my back relax. Soon as I came back in here and started with the emails, I can feel my stomach starting to hurt and my back clenching up. I am seriously considering semi-retirement. I'm getting burned out, I'm exhausted, and this is not fun anymore. I think that what I might do is really cut back on accepting new projects and try to only work part of the day. I'm just not loving this job.
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In the veg, everything is doing very well! My original intent was to weed the onions which desperately need it, but I got sidetracked (what else is new?) and ended up weeding my cukes and scarlet runners instead. the beans are all doing so well...long sturdy vines, the scarlet runners are blooming...I'm expecting to see blooms on my green and yellow pole beans soon. the cabbage that I was worried about because I let them linger so long in pots is starting to head up so no worries there. The broccoli is also doing good, really grew well but no heads yet.
Every packet of Burpee seeds that I bought at Lowe's absolutely failed to come up: Larkspur, basil, balsam, etc. Never again. I'll order seed online from companies I trust. I don't think it's Burpee's fault but I would not be at all surprised if Lowe's mismanaged how they handle their seed.
OK, I think I better do some editing then maybe I'll actually try to take a nap and recharge. Very hot and humid forecast for today; we're supposed to get rain and I hope we do because the last few days have been dry even though we were supposed to get rain. This makes me a bit nervous....
It's so fresh and cool this morning (about 6 am.) that I decided to take an hour or so and do some much needed weeding in the Storybook Garden, in the topmost area that I had lifted, amended, and replanted early in the spring. Everything is doing very well, but the weeds are bad....that's what comes of messing with the soil and not getting it immediately mulched. Now that I've got a big area cleaned out, I really need to get over to J's and get in a big truckload of mulch. The raw mulch that the power company left me is too coarse and too "hot" to use around perennials. I'm reserving it for the Pine Gap, where I'm trying to smother out rank weeds and grass.
I have to say, early early morning is so lovely...especially up there on the hill, with the sun just starting to slant over the ridge. It's breezy this morning, with the wind out of the east, so there's a good chance we will get some rain later.
I just wish that I could spend everyday in my garden. I'm going to try very hard to make early morning my "garden time" during the summer. After all, it's not exactly shirking if I don't get to my desk and start working by 8 am. Most people don't start their day til 9. ( Do you notice how I'm trying to justify my "play time"? *HA*)
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Got a sad frantic message from my niece in Ohio...her 14 year old cat is very ill and she wanted advice. Hard to give advice at such a distance...I recommended taking the poor cat to the vet. At that age, sometimes things that look fatal are treatable....with any luck at all, it could be just a very bad tooth, or an infection. I know I have had several cats that looked near death's door and yet, with vet advice, meds, and feeding, they not only survived but when on to live happy long lives. I'll just have to wait and see what she tells me.
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I have made real progress with the 2 baby feral kittens. A long time ago, an older lady told me that tortoiseshell cats are "one person cats"...that they have a tendency to bond with a human and form a very close relationship. That seems to be true from my experience: I had a tortie named Cinders for 12 years and she was my closest and dearest friend. After she passed away, 1 year and 1 day to that very date, another baby tortie came into my life, and I named her Cinders Too. She's my bestie...what can I say. (Torties in my experience have also been very intelligent cats and seem to have a better sense of humor than most....the whacky games we come up with are hilarious.) Then for a too short period, I had a rescue tortie named Binny who adored me and the feeling was mutual. She passed away too soon from kidney failure.
Anyways, one of the feral babies is a Tortie and she seems to have "taken a shine" to me because from the first, she's always sat there and stared at me. A few days ago, she let me pick her up for a minute. Yesterday, I managed to lure her to me, pick her up, and feed her baby food (chicken) off my finger. Well, that did it. *LOL* This morning she was on the path waiting for me and I was able to pet her and feed her again (and her very wary ginger sibling). I notice that the tortie is a little smaller and frailer than the ginger and I suspect that the feral mom may have trouble with her milk supply....her last "litter" was only 2 and one kitten (Andrea) was very m uch smaller than the other (Opey). So this extra food is going to make a difference I hope. As soon as I have them reliably weaned, then the fun starts: Trying to trap mom and get her spayed.
OK, better get to work.
Too hot and too busy to get anything done out in the garden today. Spent a couple of hours helping with the lawn mowing. Normally, I don't do lawn, but R is busy with the hedge trimming so I figure it's the least I can do. The problem is I'd rather start fairly early in the day, while it's still reasonably cool, but R doesnt' roll out of bed until noon and god forbid there's noise to wake the poor darling. *rolls eyes heavenward* *LOL*
I think I'm going to just stay indoors and keep working on the laptop this afternoon. I don't want to get behind on the editing.
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I did a headcount over the weekend so that I could distribute flea drops to everyone and, counting the 2 baby kittens from the feral cat, I am responsible for a total of 21 cats. *gulp* HOWEVER, we do live on over 2 acres in a rural neighborhood and this morning I kept an informal count on how many cats actually were in the house at any one time. Actually, there's never much more than 6 cats in the house at any one time (except at mealtimes)...so that's no so bad. No it's not. It's not. Don't give me lip: IT's NOT THAT BAD *LOL!!!
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I have a pot on the porch with seeds sprouting in it. Only trouble is, I don't know what they are?? I remember scattering old seeds in pots during the winter and then giving up on them. Then I stuck a few cuttings of box wood in that pot. Two boxwood are rooted...and now seedlings. I need to get better organized.
Saturday was very cool and overcast, which was a big relief from the heat of last week. I got up very early with every intention of waking the birds and hauling those woodchips, but you know how it goes: First, I really better do the litter boxes, and while I'm doing that of course I need to scrub the bathroom floor. And since I have all the floor stuff out...maybe I'll give the kitchen a good lick too. And oh, yes, I need to shell out more peas and get them into the freezer... And I really should turn out the pantry and give the shelves and floor a good wipe down... *sigh*
I did make myself go out and haul the chips though....two truckloads, from the corner of the property up around the curve to my Pine Gap. Looks so much nicer now. Of course, most of the shrubs in the "second stage" of the Pine Gap are still very small so they don't look like much, but they are all thriving and in a couple years, watch out.
This morning, I decided that I had to just "pick one"....pick one job and do it. that's the problem with a really big garden, there's so much to do everywhere that a lot of times I get started on one thing and then get involved in something else, and something else...it never ends. Lately I've been trying to just "pick one." Commit to doing one thing, doing it well, and moving on. (Ala Charles Emerson Winchester on MASH). Even if there's other things that need doing. So this morning it was the auxiliary garden, which is planted (again) with tomatoes. Plus, there are 2 new berry beds on 2 sides of the aux. garden, one with thornless blackberries and one with red raspberries. I did a lot of work on those berry beds last fall/winter and it paid off. They are doing great...there's even some berries coming along. So, this morning, I got the sickle out and cut a nice path through the tall grass that is lapping up against the new berry bed fences. Then gave the beds a light weeding (I mulched them very heavily with wood chips last fall and that worked well.)
Once that was done, I tackled the tomatoes...weeded then spread newspapers around them, then topped them with grass clippings from my neighbor. The clippings were the hardest thing....I have to haul them by wheelbarrow (4 loads) from his yard to the aux garden, and it's a hike... In "city slicker" terms, I'd say about a block away. But *dusts hands* there! done. The tomatoes are doing pretty well, but now that they aren't competing with weeds and will have consistent soil moisture and temps, they should really take off. I also wanted to tie up the plants to the garden fence, but it just got too hot and I got too tired to do it. That's something I can do anytime.
I really need to do some deadheading today, especially the roses. Might get out the secateurs and do that this evening, if it's cool enough.
The scarlet runner beans in the veg are in bloom and look so pretty. I also need to give them some more strings to climb on...but I'm out of garden twine so that's on the shopping list.
My friend E brought me a small spirea as a gift....I think I'll pop that into the Pine Gap, in the space in front of the second grouping of Knockout roses.
I really need to get things ready to start taking cuttings this week.
I am a big believer in educating everyone about history....in the hopes that knowing it will prevent some of it from happening again. The US Civil War is an important lesson; more than half a million people died in that 4 year conflict and the country was ravaged; some families never recovered economically or otherwise. And the root of it all was GREED. Some people wanted to have more and more and more, no matter what the cost to other people. I'm not talking just Southern slaveowners; the Northern industrialists who made huge profits on cheap cotton were also at fault. These high-class, wealthy, greedy people on both sides of the Mason-Dixon poured a lot of time, money, and talk into stirring up the average people until war seemed the only answer. The terrible and tragic consequences reverberate in our racially divided country today...and the saddest and most unjust thing to me is that the people who bear the worst brunt of all this even today..our black citizens...were the only blameless ones, the true victims in the whole sorry mess.
So, if you have a chance to visit Gettysburg, I suggest you put aside your romantic beliefs about the War, the Lost Cause, and all the other nonsense; go to the Visitors Center and see their film and diorama, really listen to what it has to tell you. Look at the museum exhibits (at the VC and throughout the town). Visit the National Cemetery. You'll be educated and hopefully enlightened...and hopefully we'll all sober up and realize that as Lincoln said "A house divided....cannot stand."
The Visitors Centers is run by the National Parks Service and the presentation there is mind-blowing. The huge circular diorama multimedia presentation is amazing....you stand on a big circular platform and all around you is a painted scene of the day of the battle on July 3 1863. The lighting changes as the day begins and progresses, you hear (and feel!) artillery shells exploding and you can see the flashes of light from the explosions. You hear horses and men and wagons....and what's even more amazing is that as you peer down over the rails you can see "real" scenery that blends seamlessly into the painted walls....it's as if you're standing on a small hilltop in the middle of the battlefield. This is not to be missed!
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Cooler today; we had a front with some rain go through overnight. Got a lot of rain yesterday afternoon; driving home from G.burg (about an hour from my house) was sketchy...there were points in the trip where I wondered if I should pull over but kept slogging along. Today, Carlisle PA and the huge car flea market/swapmeet/car corral... I hope it's not too hot up there...I hate trudging through acres of chrome and sheet metal in the blazing sun, but this is R's hobby and we must we must... *sigh* I keep threatening to take him to a public garden but I never do. It would be like having a whining 4 year old at my heels *LOL*.
