Reworking the Perennial "Step" Bed

 

 

We have garden steps that go nowhere. 

Twenty-two years ago, the vision was to replace this barren hillside with a garden. In reality, it  would have taken a crew of men with machines plus an expensive amount of plantings to bring that vision to fruition. But all was not lost. We found ourselves always climbing this little portion of hill when we wanted to walk up to the gravel road at the top. So we put in a mini version of the hillside garden. Back then, Steve got free railroad ties at his workplace. He brought a bunch of them home and then axed and shoveled out the clay hillside to set the steps in place. We then topped each step with pea stone. Over the years I have tried several different plants and shrubs to cover the area. It still a largish garden I always struggled with what to put there. It gets weedy very easily and it never looks pretty at the end of a hot summer. 

Lately, I let the weeds go for a long while and everything got really overgrown. When I knew Steve would be away for a few days and the weather would be cooler, I decided to tackle the task of cleaning it up. I drove the pickup truck to the landscape store and got a load of garden mix soil. I pruned back the shrubs and dug and weeded and dug some more. I pulled out old landscape fabric (what was I thinking using that stuff?!) and shoveled new dirt onto the area. I transplanted things I wanted to keep and added a few new plants to fill in.  

It took two days of hard labor. It also gave me great  satisfaction to complete the job. When I finally turned on the sprinkler to water everything in, that was my, "Hallelujah! The job is done!" I sat in the shade of a tree with a can of sparkling water and watched the sprinkler oscillate back and forth. The air was cool with a little breeze and it felt so good to just sit there and be finished. 

One of my best memories of the day was going back to the run-in shed, where we used to store hay for the horses, to get the garden cart. It has been years since any horses have been in there but it still smells like hay and horses. I love that smell.

I skipped the gym the next morning. I figured I had earned it, the hard way.

Ecclesiates 3:4, A Time to Cry

 Grief came to visit this week. It often lingers in the dark corners of everyday news. Most of the time I address it with prayer and introspection, determining to do more good and counterbalance the evil in this world with good. Love more, love better, love unconditionally...look to our Lord and Savior for guidance. But Wednesday's news of the assassination of Charlie Kirk darkened the sun and stilled the breeze. It caused a vacuum that momentarily sucked all common reason from the world. 

My heart is so heavy for what we have lost in the death of this good man. Evil attempted to take away our freedom of speech and open, civil debate. This same darkness wants to take away so much more. 

I found comfort in Charlie's widow's words of faith and encouragement and in her vision for her husband's legacy. And I find eternal comfort in knowing that darkness has lost. It was finished the moment Jesus defeated death on the cross. 

Erika Kirk's Words 

Wind's From the North!

 

The sky is clear and the upper and lower fields are mowed.

 Oh what glorious, cool air comes through the windows on the north side of the house! We have waited all summer for this change. It lifts our spirits and fuels our creativity. It induces me to clean and freshen every room in the house. I open windows on opposite sides of the rooms so the air flows right through. We keep some windows open at night and let the sounds of crickets and owls lull us to sleep. The screen porch is our evening haven now that the heat and humidity are gone. It was tolerable to sit there on a hot summer night but now it is downright pleasant. 

We have also begun to refresh the garden. The fields are mowed for hay which makes the entire property look brand new. The sweet scent of cut hay is everywhere. We tackled the tired vegetable beds and pulled out all the sodden, rotten tomato plants. What a disappointment they were this year. The pole beans came down too. They produced like gangbusters but were all spent now. Steve is harvesting hot peppers every day. He dehydrates some and grinds them into powders. He also makes a lot of hot sauce. I know it involves brine but I don't pay enough attention to his process. I took a turn with the dehydrator and filled it with sweet basil. I also made two batches of pesto which I will store in the freezer. 

Grandkids romped around the hay bales.

 

 

 

We had a happy Labor Day weekend with three of the four daughters and their families here for a cookout. It was an easy picnic with meats on the grill, a few sides, and two kinds of fruit cobbler with ice cream for dessert. We took walks, played outside, ate good food, and shared stories and dreams for the future. Tess and Audrey have declared that they enjoyed the family gathering for Violet's birthday party so much last month that they want to keep the gatherings going throughout the year. I say, "Amen" to that! Next month is Tess' birthday, Halloween, then Thanksgiving and Christmas. We will have plenty of opportunity to celebrate.

Dried basil leaves ready for crumbling into recipes and three jars of pesto for the freezer.

 On the quiet front, I finished stitching a large-ish cross stitch pattern. Now I must find a frame. I also took two quilts to the quilting studio and just picked them up this week. I need to bind them and then give them a wash so they pucker up. I will include them in my next post. Tomorrow Kay and I are driving to Lewisburg, WV to browse the antique shops and have lunch out. It is a very pretty drive with barely any traffic. It is my reward to self after having a routine c _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ py today. ; ) 

PS. I can't decide which font I prefer. ??  

 

Visiting New Hampshire and a Day at the Beach

 

Photo from our 2022 visit. It looks exactly the same today.

 

 

 

The Follansbee Inn at Kezar Lake, NH has become like an old friend to us. This is where we stay when we visit our daughter and her family in New Hampshire. This year, we made our annual August trek to the beautiful state of New Hampshire in our old pickup truck. It is not the most comfortable for long range travel (and I questioned its road worthiness) but we had a load of furniture that Chelsea wanted and I was happy to endure the truck ride in order to clear it out of our basement.

The common rooms at the inn are lovely and comfortable and the breakfasts are a culinary treat. We always enjoy the dock and the beachfront area. Guests have free use of the inn's kayaks, canoes, and paddle boards. We spent two days exploring the lake, swimming off the beach and dock, and relaxing under the big pine trees. One afternoon we formed a three boat caravan and Simon guided us over to an inlet at the lake where we paddled through rushes and lily pads. We looked for water birds, turtles and little fish as we paddled along. Our three grandsons are already energetic outdoorsmen and keep up quite well with their father. 

Other activities we enjoyed were the League of New Hampshire Craftsman Fair, a beach day on Plum Island, MA, dinner in Newburyport, MA, a home cooked lobster dinner eaten on the picnic table, an afternoon of candlepin bowling, reading books to the boys, and quiet evening chats with our daughter and son-in-law. I had hoped to get away from the Virginia heat but it was also hot in the north. We were able to sleep with the windows open at night and that was nice.

We spent a total of twenty-eight hours driving to and from New Hampshire. It is a long, painstaking drive in the moment but it is always worth it in the end. We try to have an audiobook, which helps with the long drive. This trip we listened to Peter and the Starcatchers on Audible and it was fantastic! The narrator was excellent and Steve enjoyed it as much as I. I don't often give five-star ratings but this was a full five star book for me.

It is always sad when we have to drive away from our family. Our final morning leaving the inn, we drove to the highway instead of to our daughter's house. I fought the lump in my throat, as I always do at times like this. I feel like I straddle two worlds, the north and the south. My heart longs for one but our life is rich and full in the other. There is no solution and I have come to accept that this is how it must remain. 

The dock at Follansbee Inn

 

Watching the family from my napping spot under the pines

Scotch eggs, roasted potatoes, pear tart, fresh fruit

 

Egg- brie- prosciutto and pear quesadilla, beignet, roasted potatoes, fresh fruit

Our three grandsons at the League of NH Craftsman Fair. 

The beach at Plum Island State Park

Steve at candlepin bowling

Playing with Violet and a Sad Day for the Mimosa Tree

 

Violet's pal, Muttsy, comes with her on her weekly visits with me. She loves him dearly. This week he was wearing a little harness but had no leash. I told Violet to choose some fabric she liked and we would sew Muttsy a leash. I found a perfect sized leash clip in my toolbox and we sewed it to one and. On the other end, we made a loop for holding. Lucky Mutsy! 

We decided we wanted to go see the Mimosa tree and see the hummingbirds and butterflies on it. We walked up the hill to the back road and past Darys' house where the Mimosa tree lived...except it was gone! To our dismay, only a rotted stump was left. It must have fallen and been taken away. It was a glorious tree and we will sorely miss it. 

Below is the tree in July, 2015. This tree is so beautiful to me that it is hard to believe it is considered a weed tree and cannot be found to purchase in nurseries. We  saw little shoots growing at the stump and I may go dig one up and see if I can grow it. There were several more baby Mimosa trees on the road bank but they were surrounded by poison ivy. I think it is time to go Mimosa hunting.

 

In more Muttsy news, Muttsy got to swing with Violet. Then he watched her swing for a while. We had some cloud cover which made it bearable to be outside and swing for a little while under the shade. 

 

 

 

The July Garden, Too Wet

 The garden is massively overgrown this summer. It is not often we see too much rain like this. Combined with the heat, it brings an uncomfortable humidity. Not shown in the photo are the ugliest tomato plants I have ever seen. I think I will harvest what fruit remains on them and then pull them up. 

I bought pole beans by mistake this year. I had never planted them before and always used bush beans. When I realized my mistake, we scrambled to give them something to grab onto and climb. They overtook the snow peas that were planted on the arched trellis and completely covered over them. Steve now likes the pole bean variety better because he can pick them without bending over. I canned Dilly Beans for him this week as a reward for all the beans he keeps bringing in. We gave bags of beans and tomatoes to Audrey and Tess and we have eaten green beans at every other meal. My dad always grew green beans and having them reminds me of him and his garden and all the goodness we ate in those summers long ago. I like to cook them as my mother did, cooked until tender,  then added to a saute of fresh tomatoes, garlic, and basil. 

All the marigolds and dill were volunteers along with the basil plants that are growing on the gravel paths. I let those three plants go to seed last year and the birds loved them during the winter. I think the birds dining habits scattered the seeds which created a more widespread propagation. There were marigolds everywhere and I had to transplant several to get them off the pathway.

 

The Days of High Summer

 

It has been a very hot summer here in Virginia. One big, long, stretch of heat with no nighttime dips in temperatures to give us a break. We perform the bare minimum outdoor tasks like harvesting from the garden, mowing the grass, watering flower pots, and minimal weeding. Any other yard related work we say we will do when the weather cools down...in another month or so. The one, happy, outside activity I do enjoy is the aquatics class. It begins at 9:00am in the outdoor pool at the gym and the water is always refreshing. It is a happy place where everyone is in good spirits and the exercise feels good.

Fresh vegetables abound and our meals revolve around the seasonal produce. Local corn is in season and we have been finding ways to enjoy that. We  did enjoy some corn fritters for dinner one night. They aren't the healthiest of foods but they are a treat on occasion. Another absolute favorite summer meal of ours is tomato pie. We have eaten them twice for dinner so far. Our tomato plants are scraggly and ugly this summer but they still produce tomatoes. Steve always adds some of his hot peppers to his side of the pie. : )

It turns out that summers in the south are a good time for indoor projects. I started piecing another quilt. It's an older pattern by Jo Morton called "Cut the Mustard". Getting the points to line up is a challenge for me as I am not an expert quilter. But I am going slow and ripping seams and re-piecing when need be. Four squares down, thirty-one more to go. I cannot seem to get inspired to work on my rug hooking. I know the mood will come back around at some point so I will just have to wait for that.

Other highlights of this month have been Tuesdays with Violet. She is so much fun to play with and the day always goes by quickly. She prefers movement play over quiet play so we hit the softball, target shoot with Nerf guns, swing and climb, play "Bear Hunt", a throw foam balls into the basketball net. All this occurs in the basement because it is too hot outside. She hasn't even wanted to go to the pool this summer, even though I suggest it. I will be sad when school starts and our Tuesdays together come to an end.

We went to one Salem baseball game with Tess and Blake, which ended up being rained out by a thunderstorm. It was still fun anyway. We also went to a trivia night at Big Lick Brewery with them and that was a lot of fun.We have dinners with friends and others with family. We dog sat Bok Choy,  had Claire and her family here for a weekend, went to a couple of movies at the little Buchanan theater (two movie tickets, two bags of popcorn and a can of beverage cost $17.), played Scrabble, and sat on the porch in the evening a little bit. 

Summer is passing nicely in its simplicity.