By the time this hits the newsstands on Friday, I’m hoping we will get some rain. It’s been several weeks since we have had a drop. Don’t get me wrong, we have had a series of beautiful days but I am beginning to worry about the gardens and trees.
Many of the job sites no longer have water available at the outdoor spigots, so I hesitate to divide and move some of the perennials.
At my house, I spent time replacing the rubber washers in all of the hoses. There were several that had been leaking and I’m loathe to waste water. This behavior goes back to childhood. Our water system in Rew, Pa. was iffy at best. We hauled drinking water from a spring down the mountain and my parents constantly admonished us about waste. I still turn the water off even when brushing teeth.
I know I’ve mentioned this before but it bears repeating. When the nuclear plant melted down at Chernobyl in 1986, I became concerned about worldwide water contamination. I canned many quarts which, oddly, I still have on top shelves in the pantry. During power outages, I have it as a back-up.
My children say, “She’s busting out the Chernobyl water.” They threaten to serve it at my funeral.
How I digress.
The sugar maple has dropped most of its leaves. I raked them from the driveway and covered the perennial beds with them. They are so pretty and the plants and soil are all cozy for winter.
Every year for Mother’s Day, my son Jeremiah gives me a little shrub or tree. Over the years, because nature is grand, and time, as is it’s custom, moves along, they have grown to respectable size.
One of my favorites, viburnum carlcephalum, AKA fragrant snowball, sadly died. It was over 15 feet tall and perfumed the entire property in spring.
Wonder of wonders, a tiny shoot about a foot tall, has sprouted from the dead stump. I’m still on the search for a larger replacement. None of the nurseries seem to carry that variety.
A trip to the Vineyard Haven post office is like being in a Hitchcock movie. There is an inordinate number of crows. I wonder what the big attraction could be?
The lettuce, spinach and beet greens are coming right along in the fish totes that I planted less than a month ago. Already a couple of salads have been harvested (see photo).
I’m trying to think of a politically correct euphemism for the dispatching of the cornish game hens that arrived via the US mail a couple of months ago. It will be nice to fill the freezer and stop purchasing expensive organic feed. I’m actually amazed that store-bought food is so cheap given the amount of time and money to produce it.
Because I write on Tuesday afternoons, none of the polls have closed. I’m about to make a cup of tea so I can stay up past my bedtime to watch the results come in. The pundits have been talking endlessly about possible outcomes.
Here it is — now the middle of the night. I guess a late afternoon cup of tea does the job. I watched TV long enough to go to bed happy.
It remains to be seen how Washington reacts in the morning.