I am back!

 I got back from my son's house pretty late last night. There was A LOT of construction on 80, with one lane traffic. This created huge bottlenecks because people will wait until the last damn minute to merge. Traffic crawled for miles. Consider the fact that there were 5 or 6 of these construction zones, welp...I did not get home until almost 7. I was whupped. 

It was such a fun visit, as always. 

Today was a jump up and get on the road. We have a tenant that is particular. She did not like her apartment sized washer and dryer. It was replaced with an LG all in one. She didn't like that. It is something that Tim and I feel strongly about. Clean clothes are a basic human dignity, so everyone has a washer and dryer. I said to the tenant, "We have met our scope of responsibility. This is a new $1900 unit. If you are unhappy with it, we will pull it, but you can buy your own." 

This was the morning. She messaged me over the weekend.  I told her to call Tim, that I was not home. She didn't. That meant that the first Tim heard that we had to get an appliance moved was late last night.

So, we got up early and got going. Tim was cranky. We did not have any place to store this appliance. He snapped, 'I am hauling it to the scrap yard.'  

I told him he wasn't. The machine was installed on April 17th, 2025. I told him there were plenty of people who'd be glad for a new washer. I put an ad on a Helping Hands site, and then we wheeled it to the road to load on the truck. These things are heavy as heck, so it was a bit of huffing and puffing. 

A guy passing by in his truck stopped to give a hand and the job was done. Tim asked him if he wanted it.

"No," he said, and asked how much we wanted for it. Tim told him it was free. My husband was bound and determined that he was not moving that thing into the basement where we have a stock pile of appliances. Like I said, the thing is heavy.

Our helper took down our number and names and drove away. We went down the street and dug up a snowball bush from the old house that I wanted to take to the new. I also wanted some lamb's ear.

We were about to head out when my phone rang. It was an elderly man. He and his wife were raising their great-grandkids, if you can believe it. They had just had their washer repaired and had been told that it was on its last legs. A stepson had called to tell him about ours. 

We told him it was on our truck and that we would deliver it.

And we did. 

His wife was so pleased. A naked 3 year old came to the door with her. I laughed and said that if the rest of them dressed like this one, she might not need to do laundry at all. Great-grandma wearily said, "this week she doesn't want to wear clothes."

We got the washer off the truck with the ramps and wheeled up on their porch. Their son in law was coming after work to switch everything out. We left the dolly there. He will drop it at the old house tomorrow.

Tim's mood brightened considerably once he stopped worrying about that washer. We stopped to grab a late lunch. "What should we do now?"

I reminded him that there was a bush we needed to get in the ground. I did suggest stopping by a yard sale on the way out of town. I had seen a hummingbird feeder that was perfect for my bottle tree.

The proprieter was a talker. He and his wife had just moved in. I pointed to their fence behind the house and explained that on the other side of that was our backyard. One thing led to another, and somehow he wound up on the subject of guns.

"You may not agree with me but if they're going our guns away ('oh no...not one of those!') the only ones left with guns will be law enforcement, and those seem to be the people we have to worry about."

Could have knocked me over with a feather. 

The evening was spent planting a bush, hanging my new bird feeder and two solar lanterns on my bottle tree. 

I have my first zucchini from my own garden.

How Does My Garden Grow.

My favorite Garrison Keillor.

This might be the year my own garden gets ahead of me.

I planted San Marzaos, Beefsteak and cherry tomatoes. Then my sister had some extra romas looking for a home. 

I do love tomatoes. 

I have 24 plants, and they are huge. Tim had to enclose them and run cross members to keep them from repeatedly falling over. I wired the cages to the boards. (Funny part? He is not a fan of to.atoes, although he does love tomato sauce.)

I am hopeful that once I am back from my son's house, I will see them showing signs of turning red. I can't wait. 

One of my distressed delphinium put out the most beautiful bloom.

I will see you when I get back.

Ordinary day.

 Today, I ran into town to buy 3 dozen ears of corn to take to my son and daughter in law's. I also wanted to pick up some Italian sausage. 

My sister is up to her armpits in zucchini and sent 6 more over. I am not sure who she thinks is going to eat all that. We are just two people! We have had squash 4 nights in a row. Luckily, we both like it. I am going to take four down to my son's house. 

I found a great deal today. Green peppers are 75 cents apiece in the store. They are not ready from the garden. I needed a pepper to stuff my zucchini and was prepared to grin and bear it. I was happy to see that they had some past -their-prime peppers, 3 for $1. You better believe I was all over that! I got $3 worth of them. I sliced some for stir fries and fajitas, and diced up the rest. I have 3 qts in the freezer, and that is happy news.

I also spent some time in the greenhouse. I planted basil, rosemary, and lavender. The columbine seeds I collected from last year all sprouted. Flushed with success, I collected some anise hyssop seeds. Not sure what I will do with them yet.

I also planted yet another distressed coneflower in my flower bed. 

Tonight, we watched the biggest blackest clouds rolling in. They were moving across the sky so quickly. I slipped on my sandals and threw open the door to run to the greenhouse and shut the door there. Just that quick, it had gotten dark as night. I headed to the greenhouse, but the skies opened up before I got there. 

I slid the door to the greenhouse shut  and was checking my plants. I was delighted to see Possum wiggle in through her little entrance. She accepted some pets and together we listened to the rain pounding down on the roof. When I left, she stayed put, curled up on the rug. 

I am glad she knows to use her safe place.

Cats and kids

Tonight, for the first night, Tiger has not hidden in the house. I moved the couch a couple days back to vacuum under it, and found quite a stash of cat toys. I set them aside and today he found them. What a good time he is having, running up and down the hall, chasing jingling balls. 

Just to see what would happen, I put down a paper bag.

Instant mayhem.

Houdi has never shown any interest in a paper bag, until now.

You'll  have to excuse the low light. I did not want to interrupt the excitement. It is nice to see Tiger relaxing though.

Tomorrow will be spent getting my stuff together for a trip east. We are having a bit of a pre-celebration for the girls' birthdays, since they will spending their actual birthdays on the beach. They are excited about this. I bought them their own small beach bags, with hats and sunglasses and beach toys. 

The car ride is 7 hours to the Outer Banks. I got them each a bag of things to open every hour to break up the monotony of the drive. 

I did that with my own and now I am doing it with my 4 and 8 year old granddaughters. Boggles my mind.

Time flies...

I sent my daughter a small package. Checking the tracking on the package, I was amused to see it is at Heathrow, United States!

Tiger Makes Up his Mind

We have two ferals left. Possum was one of the original four kittens born in the garage, and Tiger Kitty, her nephew. 

They lived in the heated garage over the winter but as the weather warmed, they spent more time outside. When I am doing outside work, they are stretched beside me, and when I pet them, they purr contentedly

Tiger Kitty went awol for about a week. I had just about given up hope when he reappeared, thin, nervous and hungry. I was so glad to see him and for once, he seemed very glad to see me, as opposed to his normal 'Meh...she doesn't seem like a bad sort' demeanor. 

Much to my surprise, he darted inside as soon as I opened the door to get some catfood. I fed him inside, to see what he would do. He ate and disappeared. In the morning, he was waiting at the door to go out. 

At night, he darts back inside. I am not sure where he hides away. I think he is afraid of something outside at night. But except for one small overturned plant, he behaves perfectly.

I would rather have them in at night, really. Possum is still not interested in the great indoors. If she comes in, she has had her fill after a couple minutes and heads for the door.

I have no idea what is out there, but we have made two escape places for her to hide. 

My Space

I have been hard at work clearing the little flower bed by the greenhouse, and I did get that done. It was a tangle of brambles. shrubs, weeds and some vines tying it all together. 

Then I was inspired to clear all the growth back from my greenhouse.

Thrilled with the results of that hard work, I decided to pull out all the ductwork and the furnace Tim stuck in my greenhouse a couple years back. That poor green house was floor to rafter.

(This situation was only temporary.)

Did you know a furnace weighs 250 pounds? And that hornets build nests in them when they sit for a couple years? Just two things I learned about furnaces.

So I hauled it all to Tim's garage, about 30 yards away. 

(It is only temporary.)

And it looked so very nice once I was able to get inside. So I got a broom, a bucket of soapy water, and some window cleaner. 

 

You know what is missing? Plants. 

My project right now will be propagating. Later on, seed collection. Next year, the goal will be a small heater so that I can start my plants out there. We already have one in the garage waiting.

Immortality

 For a time, there was an old woman sitting on the porch of an old house in a wheelchair. Whenever a car passed, she would smile and wave. 

The first time I saw her, I smiled and waved back. The second time, I gave a friendly toot on my horn. The third time. I realized that she did this nearly every day. 

I began to purposely take that side street in to town for no other reason than to smile and wave back. She always seemed so joyous.

Winter came, and it was a long one, but spring came along as it always does. However that old woman no longer sat on her front porch. Still, though, I find myself turning down that side street. I remember the waving and her big smile.

In a way, that is immortality, and that is not the worst way to be remembered, is it?