Finally a gardening post

-
A wee sunflower newly placed in the garden!

But I need to preface it with the notion that I feel like I'm cheating. Yet I've put a number of plants in the ground and in planters, so that counts, right? And they are live plants, lol, so yeah, I've kind of found my outdoors mojo, even during a mostly cloud-filled week.

Boysenberry plant that I started last year from a tiny plug; it's the berry of my childhood and doing well.

So why do I feel as though I've skipped many steps? Well, last year I started SO MANY PLANTS FROM SEED. Oh my goodness, I was a seed-starting fool last spring. It was our first full year at this house and with little rain and plentiful if not cold sun, I went nuts for veg and flowers. Not all of it did well, due to hungry deer and other critters and meh soil, as well as our mild summer weather. Did I burn myself out, perhaps. Our very wet and cold winter hampered my efforts this spring, as well as malaise from grief. Yet I'm making up for it now; two pumpkins, a cantaloupe, petunias, nasturtiums, and just as of this morning the last three of six sunflowers. And in a shaded planter I have three coleus, six impatiens, a couple of petunias, and a trailing fuchsia that joins a geranium my husband put in.

Strawberries!

Now it's only mid-May, plenty of time for other items or even some seed scattering if I feel so inclined. But honestly I'm thrilled to have planted what is so far doing well. I had been pretty resolute that I wasn't going to do anything. My hubby was choosing plants, green beans and snap peas, marigolds too. Maybe I've already yakked about this. Anyway, suddenly I'm into growing plants. Not growing plants from seeds, just putting plants in the ground and watching them get bigger. That's gardening for me this year.

Snap peas thriving amid the blackberry vines.

I'm trying to not feel guilty about the seeds I bought a few months ago; they weren't expensive, so that helps. Yet I meant to do something with them. And as I said, perhaps I might. But I have plenty of tasks already lined up; books to write and lots to sew. This year might not be all about the garden for me. However observing living plants increase in size is an amazing joy. I can't wait to see the sunflowers develop, and the strawberries are producing prolifically!

Baby snap pea

So yeah, I'm gardening. I'm grateful to have the desire. I'll be over the freakin' moon to get a pumpkin or cantaloupe. We'll see how it goes.

Popular posts from this blog

Good to be home

-
Image
This Mandolin block was waiting for me last night; I added four perimeter diamonds and it was finished! Subsequent pics are all EPP made during our holiday. Despite a head cold that emerged late Monday/early Tuesday, our holiday was marvelous! I add this disclaimer because right now I feel pretty crappy, so if this post rambles, it's due to my current state of health. Ice Cream Soda block My goodness, there is a lot I want to say, perhaps the best way to get back into the blogging swing is to eke out bits here and there. The Gee's Bend Quilts Collection was AMAZING! Thirteen quilts were on display at the Philadelphia Museum of Art , beautiful comforters I never thought I might see in person. All were hand-quilted, most were completely hand-stitched. Designs, colors, and purpose made me grateful for my minor contributions to the quilting world, as well as causing me to wonder at future projects and ponder my fabric stash. Much food for thought at that deeply touching exhibit, wh...
Read more

Always good to be home

-
Image
  Heading west on I-580, just having crossed over a lengthy bridge. My goodness, where has the time gone? I've been back for two days, but no moment has been free to post here. I enjoyed a lovely getaway with an old friend, some warm temps, and an environment wholly altered to where I live. All in all, a terrific holiday, and now guests are arriving, which will probably preclude my usual flow of entries, although I truly am hoping to release my next book VERY SOON, lol. Getting out of one's routine is full of positives, the sense of adventure, especially when going somewhere new. Spending time with a pal from the the past enhanced the sojourn, much over which to chat. She knew our locale well, for which I was grateful. And I didn't miss my hexie box at all, instead spending my downtime reading one of my old novels, again falling in love with the sense of writing merely for my own pleasure. Our impending visitors will preclude me from diving into the prose, but I'm certa...
Read more

Earthquake recovery

-
Image
Records and box sets spilled out, blocking the door to a closet. An unexpected beginning to our day yesterday; at 2.34 am a 6.4 quake roughly stirred us from bed. In all my years dwelling in California, I have never experienced such turbulence, and boy howdy, this one packed a punch. Several striking memories remain, reaching for my bedside phone, but finding it had been tossed to the floor along with a small bookcase. Putting on shoes as a 4.6 aftershock rumbled through. Locating my computer tower on the floor next to my desk (spoiler alert; once power was restored at 8 pm, both my machine and my husband's were just fine!). A large bookshelf was toppled, vinyl albums flung from shelves in the living room, a few dishes scattered on the floor. Several framed photos had fallen, but only two sported cracked glass, one from which I was able to extricate the picture. No structural damage to our knowledge, and we had hot running water and a generator going all day. For all that could hav...
Read more