Tuesday, May 23, 2023

Grands, Gardening, Projects and Co-op

I showed up to watch the boys and the house was strangely quiet. I saw a little face peering out the window on their door. Little Buddy said, "Bachan! Bachan is OUTSIDE!" 

He ran and got Danny. They couldn't quite figure out what to do about Bachan on the porch. I finally rang the doorbell and got Benny. Arielle was sick and wasn't going to work today. I stayed and read Little Buddy's favorite book...it's all about all the different emotions a heart can feel. It is amazing to me how much more vocal the boys are than they were just 9 months ago. 

Precious 2 yo hands

I offered to stay and play with the boys so Arielle could rest, but Benny opted for a movie. ::snort:: Movies are a rarer occurrence than playing with Bachan. 

5 yo Benny

On the way home I stopped to take this picture which illustrates our winds so well.  I'm glad I did as the trampolines were gone when I went back this evening. Can you read the sign? "Free Trampolines." 

With an unexpected two hours in my day, I headed home to work on a project or two. I cleaned out one of the garden beds and planted strawberries. It will have asparagus on the one end. If it doesn't work out, I can always transplant the berries. No, it's not June. I'm living dangerously! 

I hung up two of my favorite pieces of garden art. Benny gave me this a couple of years ago. He told me it's so if I feel sad, I can put my finger in the hole and I'll feel happy. ::snort:: 

I found these chimes at a thrift store. They make me smile when I'm working in the garden. I make it a practice to hit the chimes when I enter and leave the garden.  I thought they may help deter moose; I suspect they actually attract moose. 

I had a bit of time left and headed for the greenhouse....the weeds love the hot and humid weather inside. 

I got 1/2 of it weeded. I do not plan to try melons again this year. I think I'll put tomatoes and peppers in here...or maybe beans.

I found a spinach plant that inadvertently "wintered" over when I didn't pick it before the first snow.  I may plant some late in the year next year. Nothing else came back. I'd also like to plant garlic this fall.

The little cherry pit is growing well too....maybe we'll plant it in the yard this year. Several of our fruit trees need replaced. 
The cherry "tree" is in the bucket in the chair.

I had about 45 minutes left when Michael told me to sit down and rest. He knew I'd be running the rest of the day. I sat down with heat for my back and took a power rest.  I had just enough time to make it over to the food co-op by 11:45. We won't have co-op for 3 weeks - and I'm looking forward to that extra week now that the days are getting busier. We are well stocked with lots of organic fruit and vegetables. A friend from co-op gave me a box of potato starts. I came home and discovered Michael had mounded much of the ground he tilled yesterday.  I will go ahead and put these in the ground tomorrow, I think. The farmer down the road planted his potatoes already. Last year we used the Ruth Stout no-till method. Michael wants to grow some both ways and compare this year. I was impressed with the ease and harvest last year....we just finished the last of the potatoes we harvested last fall. I had sorted them by size and saved the big ones for last.  I think maybe I should do that the other way around this year and save the small ones for seed potatoes.

We had Encore Presentation (left overs) for dinner AGAIN tonight. We may never eat all the pizza (Friday), steaks and dogs (Saturday)...we are making quite a dent on the beans and potato salad. 

Stacia and Allie put a coat of primer on the boys' old room today. Michael wanted to run to Lowes and get more primer. Dad didn't want to go (are you seeing a trend). 😁 I stayed home tonight with him, and Stacia and Michael ran to Lowes. Allie attended a friend's graduation this evening. 

The SD card in my phone has malfunctioned. I'm working diligently to get all the photos off of it....and off my phone....