The beginning of the week favored us with a couple of fabulous weather days. Low humidity and sunny. It was downright pleasant working outside.

On Sunday I meant to pick a few snow peas for a Chinese dish I was preparing. Instead, I pulled up the entire row and picked them all as I went.

There were so few blossoms and the plants were unruly. I ended up with almost a half-bushel. It’s amazing that one small package of seeds can produce so much food.

I spent the rest of the lazy afternoon preparing and freezing meal-sized bags — not to mention just plain enjoying them fresh for a few days.

I think I’ll attack the shelling peas next. I hate it when they become overripe and too big. Then again, drying them is always an option.

The garden is overrun with lovely yellow finches. They usually come around to feed on the sunflowers that have yet to bloom. I’m wondering what they like right now.

Apologies to my column-adjacent neighbor Robert Culbert of Bird News as I mention another bird observation. I wonder why crows constantly chase red-tailed hawks. They are smaller but the hawks always seem pestered and try to get away.

On a recent trip up-Island I noticed that the multiflora rose is every bit as prolific as bittersweet.

About 40 years ago Christ Methodist Church was given a piece of property in Vineyard Haven to be used as a community garden. It was divided into thirty 50-foot by 50-foot plots.

For privacy and supposed protection from animals, we planted a hedge of multifloral roses. I have just three words to say about that, in all caps: Never Do That! I think the appropriate garden-related expression is we admitted that we would rue the day we ever made that decision.

My purple opium poppies (Lauren’s grape) have reseeded into a large area of also-reseeded feverfew. A person could never design such beauty. With the exception of the perennial Oriental poppy, all poppies just spread themselves around willy nilly. They never disappoint.

Violet and I took a drive through the Camp Ground on Sunday. We admired the considerable effort folks put into their small yards. Many had plants and shrubs that perfectly matched the paint and trim on their homes.

I would never defend the actions and words of our former president. He has no regard for anyone else and can only think about himself.

What is most disturbing to me is the vile behavior of some of his followers. The Georgia election worker and her mother who testified on Tuesday in the January 6 hearings said it best. They were only doing their jobs when a former mayor of New York city and the president of the United States lied about and slandered them. Their lives will never be the same. Between receiving online death threats and actually coming to the grandmother’s house, those two women live in fear.

Who are these people? I disagree with plenty of others politically but it would never occur to me or any sane person to threaten them with bodily harm. I really fear for our country and hope we do not end up in a fascist state.