20 July 2014 - And so it begins

Two weeks ago I had an email from my brother, quick and to the point,  "Look out, the zucchini are blooming."

The following week he showed up with some baby zukes (four to six inches long) from his elderly neighbor. I had them for breakfast. Eggs and zucchini are a sublime combination. 

The next week he showed up with zucchini from his own garden. All three of these would not make up one of the zucchini he brought. Good thing I actually like zucchini. 

19 July 2014 - Back away from the window

I really need someone here to tell me , "Lauri, just step away from the window."  I have so much I want to do, not to mention need to do, and what am I doing?  Sitting on the kitchen counter with my nose pressed to the window. 

 I can't help it. Funny things are happening out there. I now have two sets of fledgling blue jays. Seven of them! And they are so darned silly. They are learning how to land on the suet feeder and eat. It takes a while before they master landing on something that swings madly underneath them. 

I was very taken with the solution this young jay found by hanging upside down with his legs fully extended. 

Definitely something I have not seen before. And, you have to admit, it is quite ingenious. 

It makes it very hard to step away from the windows when the circus is just outside. 

15 July 2013 - Weeding: Mindless or Zen?

I am a gardener. And not just a gardener, but an organic gardener. That means no insecticides, no pesticides, no weed killers. Although I must admit to using RoundUp this year to help me get rid of a pernicious patch of myrtle, but that is not the norm. 

I am also the gardener.  My brother shows up with his chain saw when needed. Where is all this going? It means I dig up weeds by hand. I have a very long relationship with digging weeds, starting as a young child at my mother's knee digging dandelions. I hated it. Hot, unsatisfying work. 

This week it dawned on me. Just what is gardening? Yes, it is growing things, but whether flowers or vegetables, they need maintenance. And part, okay, the biggest part, of that is weeding. It is just part of the process. It was a surprise to discover that spending this much time on my knees with an often single-minded intensity on weeding is not the chore it used to be.  One morning I started before 7 am and got several hours of weeding in before the sun started to bake the soil. I was in the zone. I had reached the zen of weeding. Gather, dig, twist. That was all there was.

Currently I am spending a couple hours each day with my digger and trusty trug pulling weeds out of the lawns. The biggest problem is an infestation of Black Medic, a tiny leaved weed with a single taproot and spreading limbs that grow side ways through the lawn. It is not only blooming but many of them have the clusters of black seeds ready to pop and spread into the surrounding area. In addition there is bindweed and common mallow both with the dreaded taproots. When my sibs and I were little we called mallow the cheese plant because the seed vessel was round and flat and we ate them, pretending they were little cheeses. 

But I digress. I gave myself a goal of a trug full of weeds a day. It is hard to stop at one trug when you are on a roll. Because of the relentless sun and heat factor I have been pulling an umbrella on a stand behind me so I can work in the shade. It really makes a difference. 


What else makes a difference? Last year I overheard my neighbor talking to her children. "C'mon kids, the weeds are our friends today."  It had rained the previous day and the soil was damp enough to let weeds slide up out of the ground. While it made me laugh with appreciation at the time, I too, prefer to weed after the rain, or after sprinkling the lawn.  It is a wonderful way to connect with your garden. You hear the birds singing overhead, the zzzzip of the hummingbirds. If you are near something blooming you can hear the bees working. Yesterday I heard crickets for the first time this season.

A friend of mine who is going through a stressful time, recently told me she spent two hours in her garden mindlessly pulling weeds.  It was the mindlessly word that got me.  I was feeling as though I had reached a zen state while weeding.  Now I'm thinking that mindless weeding is the same as a zen state. 

In both instances you let everything go, it is a great way to detox from situations, let the brain quiet down and clear the mind. The anxieties fade into the background and lets the subconscious deal. 
Maybe that isn't so mindless after all.

14 July 2014 - What's blooming now

This last week has been hot. Highs from 97 to 99. Today we are expecting 102.  The heat is hard on the flowers, they fade very quickly.  But, there are still some stubborn bloomers that make my yard a little more colorful. Hot temps, and mostly hot colors.

 

 

6 July 2014 - Splashing in the Fourth

What a way to celebrate July 4th!  First, my sister arrived for a visit. Since she is such a fog flower and this week has been in the high 90s, I thought it would be a good idea to get the little pool cleaned up and the fountain running so she could at least dip her toes in cold water. It's one way to stay cooler. 

My brother arrived first thing in the morning with his bag of tools and proceeded to clean out the drains and hoses. He had to dig out the well for the pump and get it reinstalled. In no time at all (okay, a couple hours) we had falling water. What a treat!  There is nothing like the sound of water on a very hot day. And dangling toes or feet in the water makes it even better. I was thrilled. 

David was smart enough to put a couple of chairs in the corner of the pool surround. It is a lovely cooling spot to sit now. 

I left to collect Robin from the airport and David packed up his bag of tricks. I was one of two houses on my street to hang a flag. Can't decide if I'm shocked or disturbed by this. We celebrated with food. Robin wanted hotdogs and toasted marshmallows while I wanted root beer floats and watermelon. Ended up with all that and more. Although we didn't get to the marshmallows, we had more than we could eat. 

Meanwhile, the yard is full of babies. Baby magpies, blue jays, chickadees, robins, downy woodpeckers are all being fed by harried parents. I keep suet out all year and the parents are going through two cakes every three days. You'd think the babies would get so fat they won't be able to fly. I could watch the antics of these babies all day. It is so much fun to watch them move through the stages of being fed, to learning how to feed themselves. It is always an adventure.

In addition to bird babies, I have squirrel babies and bunnies. Tonight I ran into three raccoon babies. That was quite the experience. I ran out to the shop tonight, and in the dark I heard really strange grunting, whuffling, whistling noises. I went back for the flashlight. Came back out to see three babies. That made me really unhappy. I started shining the light in their eyes, yelling, stomping and waving my arms around. They were unimpressed and started making agitated noises. Great. I chucked a few rocks in their direction. About this time the two labs next door got involved -- barking and growling at the fence. The babies were between me and the dogs. They charged me! WTH?  Oh yeah, I moved in a hurry. 

The babies were freaked, growling and making distressed noises.  I heard a bunch of scrabbling noises and located one of them climbing up a large pine tree. I think the other two were hiding in the myrtle or pyracantha.  I am so not happy about this. Time to get some traps out.  

Last night Robin and I went out to look at the moon. It was flanked by Spica and Mars--an amazing sight! The star and planet were one finger width away on each side of the moon in a perfectly straight line. 
Tonight I went out to check on them again and found the moon perfectly balanced on a pine tree. 

Quite a joy ride on our Fourth!

4 July 2014 - A Celebration of Red, White and Blue

Just in time for the holiday, some of my favorite red, white and blues from this year.

 

 

    

And finally, three photos with all three colors.