Daily Notes- June 24th

I think this has been here before- like a few days ago- but not much is new here.  And this has a more vivid color to it as I used the little whatever they are called in the camera to rotate and then brighten. I have a few pockets I have been removing from shirts and pants- to gain yardage- and am thinking I will appliqué some of these little things to the pockets.  And then???? Who knows.

Horoscope for me with Leo traveling in my...........

 today "you are a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma".

Pretty much- for so many, many years.

Breakfast was two raspberry filled doughnuts. A bit stale. and rolled in powdered sugar and I like them better rolled in plain sugar.  But first time seeing donuts in our bakery section.

Yesterday was way more interesting than usual. Husband and I were moving bagged compost to the raised bed garden then moving 30 gallon trashcans of soil-less mix to the garage area for me to use to fill the Garden Boxes.  Well, I tugged on one can and then fell backwards and hit my head pretty hard when I landed.  We did the concussion protocol but first I had to let my daughter know in case my husband forgot I fell down. That would be something he would forget.

I also bruised my left wrist and quickly applied Arnica to the bruise and in 3 hours- hardly anything to see. Completely gone this morning.  But still a bit "tender'.  No headache or double vision. Just some body aches.  Shoulder and hip (as usual) but after a bit of walking it isn't noticeable.

I was very very lucky as I fell on the greenhouse pipes and some wooden pallets.

My hard skull.

Daughter came after work to "see for myself" and we filled the boxes and planted the tomato plants. The damn deer ate the top off one.  I am thinking that that plant won't grow anymore without the growing tip. We'll see.  I also planted the parsley into the two window boxes and the kale into the square grow box I bought at Home Depot months ago.  Now I only have the cucumbers and the tomatoes I grew in the little milk jugs to plant.  And then just water and wait.

Daughter and I also lifted couch and pulled out rug and rolled it (well, she did and I watched). Now the couch is shoved back against the windows and the room looks even more empty. Wonder when it will be safe to visit a furniture store and try out the furniture???  Answer-- maybe never.

Husband wants two hanging baskets on his workshop porch.  But they will be close enough to the driveway for a daily watering.  So I agreed.  Hanging baskets dry out so quickly that they need a lot of regular water during the day. I watered the baskets in the greenhouse twice a day very heavily. It was time consuming and lots of water ran down my arms, down my side and into my pants.  Lovely.

Fruit for the week is going to be fresh pineapple.  Still have some cherries. I got limes and tonic water and plan on drinking ice cold gin and tonic this week.  Tell husband it's ice water.  

I bought rhubarb today ml- after your email- and will be making another pie as soon as husband finishes off his carrot cake.  He still has cookies as well.  I have to remind him to have coffee and dessert. 

No one EVER has to remind me to have dessert. 

Daily Notes- June 23rd

An unexpected surprise.  I started trying for an avocado plant last Summer.  Most of the winter I had the pit wrapped in a damp paper towel in a plastic bag in a very warm spot near the radiators- directions from several sources on the internet. Nothing happened. 

Then around February I notice the bulb had cracked and what was described as the "root" was there between the two halves.  I was directed to pot the pit and water regularly.  Nothing happened and a few days ago I was tempted to dump the contents of the pot into the compost bucket.  I forgot to actually dump it and last night as I was closing windows before bedtime- I saw something strange- that was not there the day before.  It looks like something is growing.  Just when I was ready to give up hope.

Perhaps I potted the bulb upside down and it had a longer journey than planned?

That gave me something to think about as I was getting ready to go to bed last night.  Not giving up hope even when it seems like nothing you had hoped for is ever going to happen.

I've just been dragging myself thru the days for about a month now.

Trying to limit the amount of Time spent watching news.

Trying to have an ongoing "project" to work on a little bit each day or several times each day. 

Getting the washing done as it accumulates and not waiting till I have three full loads of it. 

I even managed to vacuum the floors and baseboards which were getting very dusty. 

I do actually water all the plants twice a day outside and try and fertilize them as needed. 

And I cut the grass every seven days- or so depending on how it's growing.

I also take great pleasure in noticing the changes in size of the peaches and plums on the trees.

I take a few moments to enjoy the Beauty Bush in full flower and the Rhodies.

But I am also procrastinating on many things.

That weigh heavily on me.

Yesterday, especially.  Which was why that little shoot, well, it really was a very good thing.

Daily Notes- June 22

Today is not as hot and humid (but heat index is 86) so I thought I would do some sewing while I waited for husband to get out of bed (he stays up later and later playing games on his phone and then sleeps until noon).  I had a couple hours to fill.  I stitched the last two sides to the big pink cloth. The wonky one.  And then I sorted out my thread box and added my new thread to the box-thank you DebL.I also sorted and stacked my fabrics in the two boxes I have out in the room where we eat and watch tv.  I was looking for little squares but there are few of them left.

Up top are one and a half inch squares sewn into what will end up being a 3 inch square.  An assortment but, by my standards, not enough variety. I had to cut a fresh white square for this block as it needed a strong focal point. I also used the back side of all the chosen squares because I like them better a bit faded.

Commercial cloth can be too new looking and the backside looks like it's been worn a bit.

I read a good book yesterday- Big Lies in A Small Town by Diane Chamberlain.  One of my dear internet friends - Connie- recommends books and I always look forward to reading them.  This one had a mystery, a murder, and art.  There was also the possibility for romance but that didn't actually happen till the last few pages but I was okay with that.  This was the kind of book where you actually wanted the author to have written more as I was sad when I got to the end.

And Connie just had a birthday.  Happy Birthday!!!

At the beginning of the Pandemic, I was making and eating Pantry Soup that Dee had written about on her blog.  I was eating it like everyday at lunchtime.  I added small macaroni to it as the weeks went by. But now it's warm (hot) and I am mostly eating peanut butter on white bread because I ran out of French cheese to eat with white bread.  I don't want to cook anything.  I think the very last thing I cooked was the eggplant. I do make things for husband but nothing I want to eat- and it hardly qualifies as "cooking".

I am often wondering if this is how we will spend the remainder of your Lives? Reading books at home alone, eating sandwiches and not going anywhere or doing anything except on Wednesday our one day of going out in public.  I often think they should have assigned a specific day by first initial of last name. But then I guess I would just see the same people every Wednesday.  And that might be boring. Not that I actually know who is saying hello, waving at me etc on Wednesdays.  But I always, always wave back.

Daily Notes- June 21st

I couldn't find any good looking peonies to snap a picture of so you get a pile of work that is ready to go- if and when I am ready to go with it.  I am in a "mood" right now- of not being so energized to do anything.  Not lazy.  Just stubbornly NOT wanting to do anything that needs doing.

Procrastination.  It's a form of Depression.

The much delayed production of the 2019 taxes is a big part of the problem.

I do not want to do them. In fact, I have stated I am NEVER doing the taxes again.  I think 53 years of doing them is enough- in the beginning it was with a pencil and a adding machine.

We are all itchy here from Brown Tail Moth hairs.  They fly around in the air and stick on your skin and then they make you all red and itchy.  Usually in places like your neck and elbows.

We have been watching the Wonderstruck series on PBS and yesterday it was Madagascar for a few hours and they never mentioned Vanilla Beans which is a big export.  They have lots of fig trees on the wet side of the island and all the birds and mammals eat them.  Tiny figs.

I did a load of wash this morning with hot water to kill the Brown Tail Moth hairs on our clothes. I was reminded- by being very hungry this morning- that I had forgotten to eat dinner last night.

I watered the little (not really all that little any more) seedlings with fish emulsion and now the back deck has a very nice fishy odor (not nice). But they needed to be fed.  They really need to be in the boxes or the ground. The little cucumber plants are sending up little tendrils.  Wanting to climb. I think they will go into the raised bed garden.  Tomorrow when it will be cooler- 80.

Daily Notes- June 20th- Fourteen Weeks

The shirt.  Not the best light but everywhere else I took the shirt- was even less realistic. It is deep and dark and mystical.  And I will be wearing it again- but not this weekend- in the 90's here in Maine. Reminding me of the Summer when it was in the 100's for so many days in a row and not one available AC unit to buy- not even oscillating fans.  That's when we decided to buy ceiling fans-

 as soon as any were available.  Feels like Georgia in Maine.

Also, I watched The Rev (Sharpton) on MSNBC and was schooled on Juneteenth history which- I will admit here- I knew NOTHING about.  This, in fact was the first time even knowing the term.  I had thought it was something "new". Shame on me and shame on the schools I attended.

So- 90 plus degrees.  No window AC units installed (yet) and yesterday late afternoon, we mowed the grass, thinking it would be cooler.  It wasn't and I had to take a break between front and back lawns- because I was seriously overheated.  I had a cold wet dish towel around my head and neck.  Not a breathing break. 

A  heat stroke break.

But the grass looks amazing.  I cut a big circle in the back.  Was really a struggle with pain in left shoulder from the acute left turns to make the left side of the circular paths.  Ever tighter.  The front was straight from left to right.  Last time was from street to house.  The time before a curved path.

The peach tree have been watered this morning and yesterday I got petunias and geraniums into decorative pots out front.  Still haven't done the tomatoes in the Earth Boxes.  Will have to wait thru this heat wave. And the mosquitos were vicious yesterday and today.  The B1 needs more time for husband and myself.  I don't have as many bites as usual so some improvement.  Have been rubbing Witch Hazel on them- which takes away the itch for a few hours. Works best on fresh bites.  Not so much on old ones.

We finished up the lawn just as DQ was closing (7pm) and we still both needed showers.  I am hoping we'll get ice cream at some point today.  Making up for last summer when we never had ice cream at all because Riley wouldn't get into the car.  And we couldn't leave him at home- if we could even catch and drag him into the house- which was seriously so very frustrating as it was often too hot for him outside.

But that is in the past.  Not far enough yet but soon.  I hope.

I made some Rhubarb Sauce.  This is something Maine Natives eat on "hot out of the oven" biscuits for supper in the Summer.  My own Rhubarb Sauce will be mixed into my Noosa yogurts. But truth be told (and I always try to tell the truth here) I would actually enjoy a pan of hot biscuits with sauce.

Daily Notes- June Teenth

Peony number two.  This one herbaceous, meaning I think, that it dies back and returns each year.  I could be (usually) using the wrong term.  A word gets stuck in my head and it stays forever.  I love how the stamen look like pimento stuffed olives.

Dee. Yes to the picture of the shirt.  I will be going down to the bedroom closet and getting pictures as soon as I click publish here and have it for tomorrow.

False indigo is also in flower just outside the Orchid window. I bought the deep blue. We sold a yellow and a faded blue jean blue.  I sort of liked them but the deep  blue had won my heart.  I rarely cut it.  Once or twice with roses for someone who was in the hospital.

I cut a bouquet of peonies (minus the tiny ants) to set next to husband's placemat on the dining room table. Mostly the yellow ones. Husband likes yellow.  I like the deep jewel tones.  But the deep magenta peonies are still tight. I also have the flat white with a yellow center- they look like sunny side up eggs.  But they don't look good in a photo. 

Another peony is "just pink" and that one always reminds me of a very long lunch next to the Rhine River with friends.  And the very very large tall vase of pink peonies in the hotel reception area.  Just seeing the flowers brings that day back like it was yesterday. I have big tall vases for just such a display.

I finally got soil into one container and planted a magenta geranium and the pink and white spotted petunias together.  The second container is narrower and got two purple and white spotted petunias and some African marigolds I grew in the little milk jugs.  I hope it works out.

I have already soaked the peach trees with the sprinklers and have the one going in the raised bed garden out back- on a timer.  And I have filled all the old orange juice jugs with fresh water so I can keep the plants and planters well watered without reaching for the hose etc.  I can dose the bottles with a very weak fertilizer solution this year.  I don't have a dog with a long tongue slurping drinks out of the bottles this summer.  He never dumped any of them over.  I was always impressed by that.

BBCAmerica is showing Luther tonight.  We are very excited.

Daily Notes- June 18th

Image from one of the donation Bon Appetite magazines I picked up at the library.  The month of June issue from some year.  Cherries.  I discovered I actually do it the way they recommend.  I cut the cherry in half from stem to stern and then use the point of the knife to remove the pits.  I like to pile cherries into my mixture of Noosa yogurt and Bran Buds (for fiber).

I do feel guilty buying cherries since workers who picked them have spiked the numbers of Covid cases in Washington State.  It's like dominos tipping and knocking the next and the next and the next over.

Watering.  Endlessly watering.  

This is Summer Gardening.  Watering. And later it's giving plants food.  And then collecting the produce.

Today- I will use my rescue inhaler- endlessly and get some soil into containers and try and set up some gardening on the driveway.  Then try and keep the boxes from tipping over as they tend to do in the wind. I am going to miss my co-watering helper.  Some days he drank more water than the plants.

John Bolton could have done the "right thing" and testified to everything written in his book at the impeachment hearings.  But he wanted ...what?  The spotlight on himself? Shameless.

I am loosing track of what I have already written here.  Comes from not having all that much new stuff to share.  Not much goes on in a household where we are either doing small chores, reading or just sitting and doing nothing. The friend with the chairs/seats is calling everyday- to just ramble on. She'll be returning to Boston next week.  To tend her 102 year old father.  Who recovered nicely from COVID.

She was out clearing her side yard of invasive bamboo yesterday.  Told me all about it.

Connie- today would be a perfect day to sit on the back deck- you with a beer and me with that canned Vodka beverage.  I even scored a bag of those corn chips yesterday at the grocery.  

Daily Notes- June 17th

This peony just opened it's first flush of flowers.  A more "papery" variety and if I remind myself of what we used to say to customers at the greenhouse- a cross between a herbaceous and Chinese tree peony. Itoh. or some such spelling.  I bought it for my husband who loves all yellow flowers.

 I can see myself falling into the dark center.

The dark rose, the deep yellow and the green.  I also like the pink blush on the inside of the yellow petals. These sturdy flowers would make a lovely bridal bouquet in June.

I woke up and it was already past 9am.  On my Grocery Shopping Day. I was going to be missing out on Senior Hours.  But I also wanted to walk past the grocery, past the library to the post office to buy stamps. I found three enchanting pages of stamps.  One of Hot Wheels for my penpal.

The  grocery hallway did not have any canning jar lids.  I did get 10 pounds of sugar. Every canning recipe starts with sugar.  And some pectin in case I make jelly.  When I got home I sorted thru my canning cardboard box and counted lids. I have 36 wide mouth lids and another 36 of the small jar lids.

The first batch of anything is going into the fridge.  And I will not be doing the canning/boiling part so I can just cap those jars with regular white plastic lids.  

Long term storage items will get canning lids and the boiling kettle treatment in August.

Oh, I can hardly wait for all that washing, cooking, boiling etc. in August.

Nothing is going into the freezer.

Period.

Well, unless it's ice cream or pizza dough or Chinese dumplings or frozen tomatoes.

My daughter dropped off a surprise bag of books.  Obviously she has started reading my blog.

One is going back- Tombland was good but once was enough.

She also went to Goodwill and found a Lindsey romance I have never read. Very excited.

Before the grocery shopping etc- I had to water all my "still in their pots/not the Grow Boxes"- flowers, tomatoes etc. That took some time.  When I got back home I started the sprinkler on the Peaches. When that stopped I got the Fenced Garden sprinkler going.

I wore one of the two shirts Deb L worked her magic on- The blue one.  Lots of interested looks from people walking past.  No conversation.  A few people I know said hello and kept walking. I am trying to be more colorful in my clothing choices.  Not just white shirts and black pants. 

Deb- you made me feel like the most Artistically Best Dressed Person in the Entire Universe.

Daily Notes- June 15th

Monday.  Supreme Court 6 to 3.  A Good day.

Doing three loads of wash today- summer and lots of changes of clothes. I also washed my slippers. Well, one pair.  I wear slippers all the time.  Even go outside in them somedays.  The good ones with the heavy duty soles.  Not these.

I decided to make a second trip this week.  I had three new books waiting at the library and the FORCE of them was too much for me and I had to go get them.  And Curbside is not really inside.  It's just a phone call, a wait in the parking lot in your car and then walking over to the table to pick the bag of books up. A new to me detective book.  That's the first one I am going to be reading--Thank you Connie!!

No Pizza yesterday.  Husband had pasta and I had peanut butter.  We- well, he was asleep-- watched or tried to watch PBS.  Grantchester?  Awful.  Won't waste any more effort on that show plus had to listen to the PBS Begging.  Which is tiresome- who wants DVD's?  Next up was Beecham House.  

Most of the actors are from previous PBS shows.  The lead guy was in recent Jane Austin. I was interested in seeing how often he would take off his clothes (frequently in Jane Austin) or accidentally shoot himself sticking those muskets into his pants.  I don't know this book or story.  In the previews for next week the Builder from the Jane Austin joins the cast as the wayward younger brother.

If I had to guess- the director is "crushing" on the two actors.

I do not think I will waste any additional time watching next Sunday.

Husband is finishing his lunch and I need to find something to eat, myself.  

The sun comes and goes.  Looks like we took care of almost all of the grape leaf worms with the second treatment.  Looks like another good harvest.  Even blackberries.  Plums. Peaches. All looking like we will have lots of fruit.  I will have to start buying sugar each week for the canning process. I'm sure at peak canning season- there will be none on the shelves.  And canning lids. My grocery has all these items in the hallway leading into the grocery so I will take inventory and then stock up.

I think I will have a Noosa yogurt for lunch  - perhaps add pitted cherries to it.

Sounds good.  My other choice is a salad.  But I think I will have that with my pizza later.

Daily Notes- June 14th

Daughter's Work Pants.

I was given the task of mending the knees.  And I did just fine (Paula the Bernina stitched thru the Carhardt fabric and denim patch really easily- surprise!!).  I used the raised open platform (after figuring out how to detach it) and slipped the legs of the pants up and scrunched the ankle parts up to expose the knees. I used an old and already cut up leg from blue jeans inside.  Beige thread zigzag. Daughter can add paint spots to disguise the zigzag if she wants.  She paints her pants. Takes after her mom.

The Sun is going in and out.  I have the door to the bedroom wing (not as posh as it sounds) closed so I can air out the rooms- open windows.  It gets a bit stuffy down there.  We still haven't installed the window unit AC's.  But it might be Time.

The Lime indoor shrub (tree) is sticky.  Some sort of insect.  And the tree is not getting enough light, so I dragged it out to the Sunporch (vestibule in Winter)--the Citrus never do well outdoors and I misted the leaves with water.  We'll see if this is enough of a change. The little limes continue to grow.  A few new leaves at the top.

My avocado failed to thrive.  Made a root but no stem- no leaves.

Each morning when I get up, I see to the seedlings- water and fertilizer and this morning I also set the sprinklers on the Peach Trees.  I also filled up the bottles with water so they are handy for a quick watering if I see something going dry.  I filled and carried the French watering cans out back to give a good watering to the seedlings.  They need to be in the ground or in containers this week.

I read a nice book yesterday.  Forgot to eat supper. And went to bed early.

Today is Sunday and supposed to be Pizza For Supper but dough is still in the freezer. 

I forgot today was going to be Sunday.

Perhaps husband will enjoy Chinese Take Out?

Daily Notes- June 13th- 13 Weeks

A neighbor gave me a few old copies of Gun and Garden magazine.  This dog- same face as my Riley and out hunting.  Riley might not have been good around noisy guns but he certainly would have enjoyed the Hunt.  And the water.  And the dirt. And the company of his Human.  So- this very simple paper collage this morning.  On no special day.  Thank you Nancy for the magazines.

One of the magazines had four pages on Grits. How to store, cook and eat them.

Out of the blue yesterday, a woman from New York (but living in Maine) called asking if I might be wanting to sell the 48 foot hoop house (greenhouse) that I have piled up in the yard out back.  For some reason- I thought I was wanting 48 feet of plastic greenhouse- the professional sort- years ago.  

I am way too old for that.

We agreed on her price but I told her the 8 by16 feet wide hoops were going to be a problem to move on highways- from here to where she is on the water.  And I forgot to mention I only want cash. I don't know this woman and --well, cash would be best even with all it's potential Virus Cooties.

I gave myself Time to think about the greenhouse and realized- it means nothing to me.  Whatever plans and dreams that I settled on that project years ago- have gone past.

I also had a "story" going thru my head yesterday.  Like I was writing and seeing it as it made itself up. This story even kept writing itself as I slept and in the early hour after I woke.  Heartbreaking.

I have a very active imaginary Life but this was quite different.  More like a movie I was watching but at the same time editing.  This story has been bringing tears to my eyes since yesterday.  Even now.

I guess the psychological term would be "fragile".

But- and here we go on the "crazy train"-- it seems like a memory rather than an imagined story.

But I do not remember this story. It belongs to someone else. 

We sprayed the grapes a second time for the skeleltonizing worm problem on the leaves.

We argued and complained but possibly have a solution to the garden automatic sprinkler for the season.

I got the Metro Marigolds planted in the herb garden.  A French Tall Red variety that I love and seeded into one of the little milk jug greenhouses.  The last of the seeds from years ago. I need these 6 plants to flower and provide me with fresh seeds.  This particular plant is no longer available in seed packages but is an excellent pollinator.

Today looks cloudy and breezy.  I don't know if it will rain.

My strip pieced wonky cloth will reach 18 inches square today.

Daily Notes- June 12th

We're going to do this their way one more time and then I am joining the Revolution and returning to the old blog.  Connie- I tried the little arrows but nothing moved the line to the far left.  But I did find the line that Deb is talking about in the comments so I can revert.  I am always  critical of "new things" and my husband is always wanting me "to just give it a try" (stop laughing ml ) but I said no to the car that comes with a button and not a key.  And reading books on a computer tablet.  And ordering drugs on the internet.

I guess this new Blogger has given me permission to fly my I Am A Dinosaur Flag

But I do know how to get this thing to publish and insert a photo. so- there is a learning curve and I am making progress.  The Smile Face?- I am still not brave enough to see where that goes. Also the ARROW is now Big and Bold and Black.  And appears when one least expects it.

My daughter suggested these gluten free cookies for me to try.  Poppies.  Six Belgian Chocolate Macaroons. Non Genetically Modified. I must start reading the packaging on my grocery purchases.  The cookies are not expensive and are mostly sugar and coconut with minimum chocolate.  Would be improved by a shortbread cookie base.  But that defeats the purpose of the cookie being gluten free. But it would make the cookie interesting to a wider audience.

As you can see in today's photo- I have added a few more strips to the "project" and tried- successfully, I hope- to get back to the wonky.  I am not hand sewing the two quarter inches anymore- I am laying the already sewn piece to the new strip, turning the top fabric under a quarter inch and hand appliquéing one to the other.  Keeps things flat.  The solid color is new on recent additions.- I could not find the original. And the fabric I am using is lighter in weight and I am not that happy with it.  But many searches have not produced the original pink fabric.  It will show up when I decide I am done. If that lower edge does not iron flat I will have to resew it.  Easy enough with appliqué.

I cooked yesterday.  Made the pork/mushroom ragu that husband likes to eat.  I do not like it. I usually would make a purely vegetarian sauce for myself but didn't even want to bother.  I didn't want to search the freezer for a package of roasted Sungold tomatoes for the sauce.  Because finding none would have been so very sad.  Meaning I will need to grow the tomato plants, tend them, pick the tomatoes, roast them and have pasta sauce in late 2020 or 2021.  Not now.  I neglected to roast any last Summer due to things going sideways emotionally with the dog.  So many things went sideways last Summer.

The Curbside Pickup for the Library sent me an email that more books are waiting for pickup.  In February/March, which seems years ago- Connie recommended a list of books she had read and knew I would enjoy reading.  The books have been "ready for transfer" from other libraries since March.  Two managed to travel just recently.  Which is amazing. I thought they weren't ever going to be sent.

These Curbside Pickup notices are disturbing my Pandemic rule of only one day outside the confines of my house and yard. To limit my exposure to other people's germs.  I picked up books Wednesday- my Shopping Day.  To go out again- just seems wrong. But- BOOKS- how can I not go get them?

I don't want to be "one of those people" who carry on like nothing is wrong anymore and just "do what you want".  I live in a State where things and feelings are getting difficult.  One restaurant (actually it's a bar where people sit and drink all day) is open and letting people sit inside.  A "tattletale" called in and the place got closed down, fined and is in danger of losing its liquor license- so far the restaurant owner has refused an interview with Tucker Carlson of Fox News who has a new remote studio here in Maine. The owner now wants "the name of the person or persons who called"- to take care of them.  And he feels he has the right to do that.  Take care of them.  A nice friendly beat down, I guess.

And so it goes.  I fear the "re-opening" will be massively more painful than the closing.

Daily Notes- June 11th

Well, things will be a bit strange going forward here.  The new Blogger is now in charge and consists of only little icons with no words.  I am just guessing.  I did manage to insert the picture and am now just typing.  Doesn't seem to allow for anything else.  Even though I would prefer the lines start on the left. The words are starting in the center.

Today is not really the best day to be finding this sort of Alice In Wonderland Nightmare.

I am not all that patient with new things.  It's cloudy and moist outside with a slight breeze. A very good- even excellent day to transplant things.  But there will be mosquitos.  Daughter has suggested the daily taking of Vitamin B1 to lessen my attractiveness to mosquitos.  It is working for her.  Took two weeks for maximum effect but she can now walk into a cloud of mosquitos and then fan out and away from her.

So I went into the local Organic Upscale Market.  Bins of $12 organic granola in about 10 different varieties.  This is where I buy miso.  The yogurt is too expensive.  I was gazing into the back wall freezers and seeing interesting meatless wonders.  I would have liked trying one of the burger selections- but this is always one of those philosophical problems for me.  If one doesn't want to eat meat why does one want to buy a burger?  Even one made of plants but looking like meat.

This Natural Market had lovely lovely strong healthy plants for sale outside.  Tomatoes that had very sturdy stems.  Cucumbers and squashes.  I wanted to buy some but didn't want to get out of line.  Only 8 shoppers inside at a time.  Masked.  And I was only going in for the B1 capsules.  Expensive. And I also got a Standard Baking Baguette.  So impossibly French and wonderful.

Now I have to decide which of the strange symbols is "publish".

I do recognize the one that is a question mark.  And I used the one that looks like a camera to insert the picture... which was purely accidental.  There is a symbol that looks like an eye.  The last one is an arrow facing right.  In the center is a tiny symbol of a smiling face.  What the hell is that? the number to a suicide hotline????  So okay.  You may never get to read this post as it might just disappear when I select the first wrong icon.  But it was nice knowing you!  Take care.

Daily Notes- June 10

                                                

I hand sewed two corners to this piece.  I had to find the stripe fabric.  Up and down stairs.  Wasn't anywhere so I had to start sorting thru piles and there it was- no edge showing. Next row is the solid pink.  I might need to cut the last edges a bit wonky to get back to that- getting too SQUARE.  And cut fabric in different widths.  I wasn't paying attention.

Spirit Cloth likes the squares.  I like the strips.

Now my eyes are tired and "greasy feeling".  Was listening and occasionally looking up at he tv- Criminal Intent: Law and Order.  Now, I watch at the dining room table- not the couch.

Today was Grocery Shopping Day.  People are intentionally ignoring the enter/ exit directions on the store aisles.  I maintain the 6 feet distancing.  And I wait for fools to get out of the aisles.  Everyone has a mask on in my grocery.  Else, I would complain.  None of the disinfectant sprays I am liking. Those shelves are empty.  I didn't check the toilet paper situation.  They had flour and sugar- still no yeast which seems really strange- any Readers know why that is still "missing"?

None of the good- fried in the Store- corn chips today at Grocery.- Yes, Connie you would like them.

Taking the big stack of Lindsey romances back to the library.  Picking up a few more.  Some books in the series are missing in the local library collection.  So, I'll have to wait for interlibrary loans in the distant future.  And then I will start on Wolf Hall unless my request for Where The Crawdad's Sing  is filled.  I am feeling like reading that again.

The good books that Connie recommended are coming from other libraries- mine does not have them. So I have to wait another 2 or 3 months for those.  By then the next wave of people will be getting sick.   I cancelled some of my own requests and at some point I will write Connie's selections on an index card and delete them as well.  Try again.  Later.

Well, Husband has gone out to look at the baby peaches.  They seem to have increased in size over the past few days.  Amazing to watch.  Peaches at the grocery store are hard as rocks.  I passed.

Daily Notes- June 9th

                                                 

I think from the Simple Veganista.  She works on the pictures.  I would not- in any event- purchase every single item in this salad.  It would be too many things.  The red cabbage for a few ribbons. Three colors of bell peppers but perhaps if the produce section had three small ones in a single bag. Cucumber. Limes, Romaine, Cucumber, Chives.  The dressing is almonds processed with lime juice.

My salad bowl would contain Romaine and carrots. Period.  On the fence regarding the dressing.
I don't "splash out" on myself.

We (I) found tiny white/yellow worms on the grapes leaves.  Looked it up on internet. Forgot to write the name down but we mixed up Bt and sprayed the grapes.  Husband's back is killing him and he was trying to reach up to spray so I went into the garage and moved massive ladders until I found one I could carry down to the garden.  Set it up.  Lifted sprayer to husband.  Now we are hoping the little worms- well, I am not sure what happens?  They are unable to eat?

Husband went to get his hearing tested and I started in on cutting the grass.  I got the front done by the time he got home and then worked on the back.  We were a few days off schedule or that big rain storm got the grass growing.  Lots of seed heads.  Looks lovely.  I had a nice shower and now wearing my pink linen capri pants and a white linen shirt.  Very June.   And we had Grass Cutting Finished Ice Cream at DQ.

I even had to figure out how to start the mower.  And good thing as I had to start it four or five times. Kept seeing spots I'd missed.  One spot between two trees on husband's cutting section.

I had written a lot of nonsense here but left the computer before hitting publish.  Good thing as nothing like an hour or more cutting the grass, a shower and a few corn chips to change ones attitudes.  Husband found me a better sprinkler.  It does the full 360.  So I am now happy my herbs etc will get watered.  Now I am going to read my book.  Tomorrow I pick up two more the library (curbside) and return some for their 72 hours waiting period before re-shelving.

I'm glad I didn't press send on that first post.

Daily Notes- June 8th

                                               

I just wanted clean sheets on the bed.  And to wash the used ones.  But the washer hiccuped and when I went to stop it- I walked into water.  I got it stopped before the water reached the walls or the new hard wood floor in the bedroom.  Used every towel I own.  Sigh.  Been doing laundry ever since.  Just trying to get everything that got wet- clean and dry again.  One more load into the dryer.

Sigh.  Hate when days begin this way.  But I HAVE clean sheets on the bed.

Husband has set up sprinklers for the Peach Trees.  I think roof runoff from the big storm was enough water for the Queen of Plums.  I need to transplant tomatoes from their little milk jugs into larger pots.  Chocolate Cherry and Bumble Bee Tomatoes.   I sprinkled dill seeds into one herb square right before the sky opened and it rained.  Good timing.

Pizza last evening came out perfect.  Enough left for husband to have for late lunch or early supper. I have some forgotten asparagus to roast in the oven for myself.  Or another tomato sandwich.  The one yesterday was good- even if tomato was one of those "inside a building" farmed one.  Exceptional good looks on the outside.  But no acidic flavor notes inside.  Sort of like some really good looking men.

I have been thinking about really good looking men lately.  Just about looking at them.  At work, when I worked, I occasionally got to spent time with some excellent men.  Usually pitching for the other Team-- but good looking is good looking. And so very nicely dressed.  Miss that. Good manners also.

What to do today?  Now that the laundry is nearly done I can move on to something else. I am not reading today as my eyes are very tired.  Perhaps some sewing.  After I do the little tomatoes. It's already 2 pm.  TV viewing is not any fun.  I paid the two bills I had here and then wrote Charlie a letter and sent him some stickers of a lizard and snake.  I need to find stamps for the letters that a child would like.  Only 5 more Muppet stamps and no Scooby Do.   Perhaps there are video game stickers????  He seems to like that sort of thing.

So---tomatoes.  Folding dry towels.  Roasting asparagus.  Might just be enough.

Daily Notes- June 7th

                                              

Going all Botanical on you today.  From the pile of "weeding" my husband had next to him.  Lovely in it's simple design.

I went out, early this year, to "set my flag" as Grace put it- to keep the birds from eating my blueberries.  I usually clothes pinned a few pieces of garden cloth to the back side of the fence behind the bushes.  The wind would cause it to billow.  The birds would stay away.  I forgot one year- the year Grace made her comment.  They ate every single berry overnight.

My flag has been set.  While out there I carted one 40 pound bag of organic cow manure out to the fenced garden.  20 pounds for the small but delightful rose bush in the herb section and 20 pounds for the rhubarb patch.  Which is looking very nice this Summer.  But it isn't Summer yet is it?

Next to the blueberries is my little section filled with Comfrey.  Flowering.  So when I came back into the house (before the rain) I sat at the computer to learn about comfrey.  It is a "nutrient accumulater" and is very much a Permaculture plant to have.  the flowers- which come and go through the season attracts beneficial insects thereby increasing pollination rates for cucumber, squash and melons.  Borage is a close family member.  I grew borage seedlings in one of my little milk jug greenhouses. A wonderful understory for any Future Apple Tree- basil, borage, clover, dill, lupine and mint.

I digress.  The Rain and Thunder rolled in and poured.  We needed water.  I set the French Watering cans on the edge of the porch steps.  At the end of the rain- they were full to to top.  Husband and I were so surprised. Three to four inches of rain in the wagon by the garage- our rain meter.

Peach trees this morning.  Peaches.  The size of my pinkie finger nail over night.  I feel, at this moment, like the season is RACING up to and passing us.  The Queen Of Plums is loaded with infant plums.  Years have passed and she has struggled with one thing after another.  And the grape vines are looking promising.  A FruitFull Year.

Daughter went Used Book Shopping yesterday and dropped off two bags of books for the Parental Units.  Clan of the Cave Bear series for G and three more paperbacks for my Johanna Lindsey Malory series.  For the next quarantine.  The Marsha Canham book I am missing- Through a Dark Mist is listed as rare- she asked the bookseller to look it up.  I had read it in the past 30 years- once- probably from a library.  But none of them have it in their collections anymore.  Rare also means things get stolen.

But she did find the Lindsey book that comes just before the one I had started reading (from library) so I was pretty happy.  I put that book down and started the new (to me) paperback.  Judy.  Then I will read about Jack.

Sunday- so we will be having Pizza.  Sky is dark.  We could have more rain.  Need to turn on the house lights.  Do some laundry.  Daughter is needing air in her tires.  Life.  It keeps on rolling.  She took a butt cheek plant on her roller blade-ing this morning.  And she had Carhart pants that need Knee /Patch/ Mending.  So, a Project.  I said that was perfect as I am going thru my days without a purpose.  

And I still haven't done the Taxes.  Next year- an accountant.

Daily Notes- June 6th --Twelve Weeks

                                          

The view from here.  I have a lovely north facing window behind the sewing machine.  You can just make out the path to the mailbox (the lightest part of the photo) to the far right.  I've managed to scratch up the plate with all the pins I leave on things I sew.

Discovered a very tiny tick today on my hip.  It had been there long enough to have created a red, swollen bump perhaps not as large as a quarter.  I can only feel it and not see it.  Tick is now scotch taped to the calendar on the date found.  We do that now- for evidence later if I start running a high fever and get delusional (which has occurred with previous tick bites).  The tiny ones carry the worst of the tickborn diseases.

The sun comes and goes.  We were hoping for rain.  Husband is going to water the fenced garden- the blueberries and grapes.  The Queen of Plums had many blossoms this year and now is loaded with tiny infant plums for only the second time in all the years it has lived here with us.  Just like the Peach Trees.  I am tempted- at almost 74 years of age- to try for an apple tree.  One of the trees with two or three varieties grafted.  My rhubarb is looking good but needs watering to stay good.  Husband is supposed to be watering but.........will I need to remind him a dozen more times before it "sticks" in his brain?  It's like a sieve.  Yes.  He got "distracted" and started weeding.

The chipmunks have dug up all the little plants in the two hanging baskets. Payback for adding pepper spray to the bird feeders, I guess.

Daughter is out scouting for books today in Portland.  She found the whole Outlander Series minus the last three books so she is pretty happy about that.  Only three books on my list though- but will help for the next wave of the Pandemic in October thru January.

I am thinking about cooking an actual meal today.  Still just thinking.  Pizza tomorrow.  I don't have much in the way of animal proteins in the freezer since I lost the freezer contents in the last big, long power failure.  I could make lasagna.  I have those things.  Too much like pizza.  I could also make quiche.  Husband won't eat it.  Hell, I'll just fry him a pan of frozen potstickers and I'll eat tomatoes and be done with it.  My salad greens died a few days ago of neglect.

And husband is filling up the laundry basket pretty much everyday.  So- there is always laundry.

Daily Notes- June 5th

                                                   

I wanted this cloth on the blog today.  Crows on T-Bone Hill.  T-shaped cloth.  The house before this one.  On a hill, sort of.  Could see the horizon.  Should have stayed there.

But not why.  I was thinking about the crows- since I usually have a few in the yard here in Maine. And I just wanted to go up into the Attic and find it and bring it down.  Took 2 minutes.  And here it is.  We are overcast and dark in the house (even with lights on) and the picture is true to color.  I used an old 30's Era potholder and the felt crow the maker had drawn.  She had also added colored button eyes. So the crows themselves are not my design at all.  But the Crow and I travel together.

My house was high, at the end of the street.  I looked down from the bedroom window and saw a long row of the same house and yard backing up to the old Farm we all called home now.  The weekends- I saw endlessly replicated BBQ grills.

I was the only house with a very large deep birdbath.

The crows brought their bones to the birdbath to rinse them off before eating.  The long center of the quilt is a line of houses.  The crows.  And my memories of that house.

There was a solo Crow in the yard this morning.  We nodded to each other.

I picked up more books at the library.  The hardback copies of romances I never bought in paperback. But still wanted to read.  I have four done and three to go.  One a day.

The Twins and their Dad stopped to visit at the end of the driveway.  They have a deposit on a puppy (as yet unborn)  Golden Retriever.  They will bring her to visit when she arrives. I didn't cry.  Not then but later.

Daily Notes- June 4th

                                         

French Watering Cans.  Both have leaks along the bottom seams.  A Design Flaw. Hold four liters and easy enough for me to carry- evenly balanced- when full to the top with water.  I used them to water the Peach Trees.  Twelve liters each.  The hose and sprinkler would have been easier but so much wasted water. And the back and forth and carrying -well, not much but some exercise........

Husband went out to get his hair cut.  According to him- the stylist thought I did a nice job on previous cut.  So there's that to think about.  I think he would be better off with clippers and an overall short crew style.  But who listens to me?  Well, I do listen when I talk to myself- more frequently now......

Allie brought over the tomatoes I selected from her list.  Ten.  I think.  But I am not going out there to count.  I have already been out on the front steps too many times.  And not even 10 am.  Each tomato plant is in it's own large yogurt tub.  Allie eats quite a bit of yogurt on the WeightWatchers Program. The zero points yogurt.  I asked.  She has it with fresh pineapple for breakfast.  Pineapple must be zero points also. She grows tomatoes because she loves eating them for lunch all summer.

Allie and I looked at the Peach Trees.  At all the little infant peaches.  It's still too early to know if they will stay or drop off.  I also noticed my cucumber seedlings are developing white leaf edges.  Cucumbers might be a "no go" this year.  Virus.

Husband is having back pain and will not be doing much today.  He lifted and turned.  Getting the compost bags out of the car on Tuesday.  I arrived in time to do the remaining three.  I do not lift and turn. Does he listen to me?  No, he cannot hear my voice with his 8K high tech hearing aids.  He can hear tiny squeaks in the crawl space under the house.  But not me, standing next to him.

I had oatmeal for breakfast.  I am going back to it.  The boxed cereals were giving me acid reflux.  Either the cereal or the larger amount of milk that goes with dry cereal.  The oatmeal only needs a very small amount of milk and is cooked with water.  Microwave cooking.  And finding the milk I can drink- getting harder all the Time.  So using less means I'll have more milk.

I am not sure how I will spend my day.  I've read the two romances from the library.  Ordered three more.  I have Wolf Hall back and can get started on it.  And I do want to re-read Where the Crawdad's Sing- but will need to reserve it.  I may have to empty my reserve account- only allowed ten in order to get more books.  I'll write down the titles.  It may be months before libraries start doing loans to each other.  I maxed out this morning.  So I deleted three on my reserve list and didn't write them down.

Cloth isn't of interest.  Paint, another no.  I was awake at 5 am.  So perhaps I am just very tired.  A nap.

Daily Notes- June 3rd

                                          

Yesterday- a day that was not Wednesday- we ( husband and I) went out in the car and did several things- visits.  We do not do this.  Usually, it is one thing only.

First the greenhouse where I worked.  Everyone happy to see my hair and eyes.  The rest is the mask. But we knew each other.   I purchased these lovely geraniums.  And the yellow lantana.  And Bumper Crop which is organic and has every good soil nutrient present in the bag.   For my squashes.  For my herbs.  For what ever else gets planted.

Then gas station with sanitizer and safety gloves.

Then the Library for Curbside Pickup of reserved books.  Not the ones I reserved back in March coming from "other" libraries.  But books I asked for on Monday from my own library.  They were ready on Tuesday.  You call when you arrive in your car and they answer and bring your books out with your name on the bag and set on a table.  They walk away. You step forward and take the bag.  Such JOY.

Next, husband called the Eye Place and Michael answered the phone.  My glasses seemed loose and Michael said they only did appointment visits but they had a "moment" so I went in and now my glasses are good.  Michael said he had purchased clippers and cut his own hair.  Our son was going to do the same.  Perhaps husband should look into getting clippers but perhaps the ones he already owns would do the same????  Husband refused to let me try.  He has a haircut appointment tomorrow.

It's been 11 weeks since it felt normal to go out and do many things.  It felt wrong and dangerous.  I told husband we won't be doing that again.  Only place husband got out of car was at gas station.  I was the one going and doing.  And today was my usual (only) day out to the grocery store.  Cleaning supply shelves were bare.  I purchased fresh fruit and vegetables.  Some, not many.  "We" are not all that interested in cooking or eating.  I'm fine with a handful of carrot sticks or a big spoon of peanut butter these days.  Husband has turkey and ham rolled into a slice of swiss cheese.  Roll ups.  Not a Sandwich.  Because that would be "too much".  Selective Anorexia.  Because cookies, pie, cake and medium Blizzards are perfectly good things to eat. Everyday. But sandwiches are too much.

Well, I am going to make myself a cup of hot tea.  I have no idea what will come after that.

Daily Notes- June 2nd

                                     

Not reacting well be the sewing- I did try and press it before the photo.   The first thin strip and the next strip of pieces are new.  The interior is now looking much more yellow.  So I will have to work on the next few strips to add more yellow fabrics.

                                                 

I just don't know anymore.  This cloth and it's extra strips was not anywhere yesterday but this morning was front and center.  I remember working on it just prior to Riley's death.  It's more ME than the one above.  Perhaps this is a better project for me to work on.

My little Class Sample Raised Bed with Hoops  (large enough to carry around and even be useful) is out on the back deck with some shade cloth over the hoops.  Husband and I had an argument regarding it.  My kale and collard seedlings are all dead.  They got too hot inside.  Sigh.  He had closed all the gaps.  I had left gaps so they wouldn't over heat.   ANYWAY- they are dead and I made sure to go open and lift the sides THIS morning before eating breakfast or putting out the garbage and re-cycling. I was up before 6am.  A dream of some big stone castle and knights.  Arrows. Sadness.

Portland, Maine has had demonstrations for "a black man killed in police custody" Yesterday evening 1000 laid down flat- face down in the streets.  In silence.  Appropriate. But the paper did not mention the victim by name.  That bothers me.  I cried yesterday as a Pulmonary Specialist- Surgeon specifically described (on MSNBC) what happened and how it felt to  the "black man in police custody" to die the way he did.  As a woman with breathing issues- it was a cruel and inhumane way to murder someone. The doctor was shouting by the time he finished the telling.

So, okay.  Enough.

Yesterday was spent trying to find husband's credit card monthly statement.  We searched everywhere.  And then- after supper I was reading the local paper and found an interesting item about Haddock Sandwiches and went to the television couch to show it to husband and saw a slim edge of paper under a pillow and pulled it out and stood looking.  Husband said "what is it?"  And I said.....your credit card bill................... and, really, I was suspended in disbelief.  This morning I wrote the check and put the bill in the mail.  The whole house is getting very weird.  That cloth up top this morning and the bill last night.  We had rhubarb pie while watching a Southern cooking show about dumplings.

Daily Notes- June First

                                       

Been getting a few (more than usual) questions about gardening these days- this book is out on the table with me (and my tiny toy watering can) but I always check in with edu. sites to see what the Master Gardening experts have to say.  Most of the questions are "virus" problems.   Which is very odd.  Pandemic in the Garden. Perhaps not odd?????

So......keep your tools etc very clean.  Just like you are keeping your masks and hands very clean. Soap and hot water.

I have Golden Oldies on very loud- a channel on the old dining room tv.  Roy Orbison has been on twice now.  Trying to wake up husband a bit earlier than usual.  But it's already 11am.  Paid the bills, answered garden questions, did some paper shredding, wrote to my penpal Charlie (he's five), and here I am with you!!! Plus I had a shower, ate breakfast and checked on the Petunias.

Cut the grass again yesterday- too many seed heads popping up.  Watered the peach trees by hand- about 5 gallons each and then got into the car from my after grass cutting ice cream cone at DQ. Later in the evening I made pepperoni, onion and cheese pizza.  Second cup of coffee.  Husband up and asked "what the hell are you doing?"   All You Need Is Love is playing right now.  Baby Let the Good Times Roll.

Looks like I have a Curbside Library Pickup!!!  Wow!  I spent some time on the site trying to figure out how to reserve books for curbside and I must have, quite accidentally, gotten a hold of a few books. Wonder which ones????  To Sir With Love--if you wanted the Moon.  Which reminds me how totally cool that the two guys are now on the Space Station!!!

The fires and the looting- not so fine.  Make a mockery of the true sadness and loss of Floyd's death. I am going to watch some new to me cooking shows and most likely see the new episode of Alton Brown's Pandemic Quitchen- even thought he is so annoying in middle age.  But Elizabeth, his new wife, is worth the aggravation.  Adding kelp to everything.  It's on YouTube.  Or UTube.  I just don't know.

Daily Notes- May 31

                                             

New borders- you see the left and top ones in the photo.  Quilt top is now 24 inches square.  I hand sewed the four borders while watching BBC South Pacific.  Just pretty pictures and a lovely man's voice talking about wind, water, sea birds etc.  Interior squares were painted fabric made years ago plus commercial. Darker.  The next slim border will be dark blue.  Like a Sharpie marker making a thick line.  Then another light pieced border, wider.  And so it will go.  The next thin border will be the dark pink/rose you see in the two square to the right.  I think that will make good "continuity".

I'm all for scrap cloth and wonky unmatched seams.  But I have to have continuity in the colors.

I came up a tiny bit short on top left.  Good thing that slice of stripe (also in the center patchwork not visible right now) happened to be on the supply tray to my left.  Just that slice. Just that size.  I love when that happens.  Means I am doing the right thing.  Needs a good press.  I like to iron as I go.

Most of the center was sewn by machine and perhaps the next border will be sewn by machine. Easier than hand sewing such a thin strip all around.

 In other news: I carried the Class Sample of a raised bed with hoops to the back deck.  Got more plants out there but it's windy and sunny so I had to cover with shade cloth.  Which took some "fiddling" to get it all settled into the good spot.  Coverage but also air flow. Discovered what I recalled as being very tiny tomato seedlings are now quite a nice size- ready for transplanting.  Not quite ready for the Driveway Garden Boxes.  Hardening Off.  I am going to plant some of my Borage seedlings in with the tomatoes.  My Gardening Book says that borage makes the tomatoes sweeter.  We'll see.  One of the 2020 garden experiments. So many this year.

We've had very hot weather and today we have strong wind.  Havoc for seedlings.  So nothing going into the garden yet.  I have collard greens and kale seedlings that I want to plant in the raised beds.  And cover with cloth to keep the white moths from laying eggs.  But not yet.  I need four large bags of Bumper Crop fertilizer for the garden.  And then I can make my squash hills.  I could sprinkle dill seeds today. But then I would have to remember to go down each day to hand water them.  We aren't getting any rain. We might be in for a very dry summer.

All I can think of now is someone who should know better threatening crowds with "vicious dogs". Isn't that what slave hunters did?  Set vicious dogs on people wanting freedom?  Dee will let me know.  Vicious Dogs.  Okay.

Daily Notes- May 30 Eleven Weeks

                                                  

Painted fabric.  The lines are because I folded the sides up and over to fit the brown paper grocery bags I set the cloth on to dry- before setting it in the hot sun on the back deck.  This was painted, dried in the Sun, washed in Dawn, rinsed, dried in Sun and pressed with a hot iron and steam in about two hours total time. There was no paint run-off in the first wash and rinse.

Yes, these cloths are very pale but when you see them added to what has already been sewn- you will understand.  Even like this- if I cut the strips just like they are stacked here and sewed them together- it would be a lovely cloth.  Summer.  Just craft acrylic paint-the really inexpensive stuff. I want a soft surface so I add water.

The folding was something unexpected.  It is something I will be doing more often now. I like how the paint deepens in the creases. I may use pleats.  And, also, I went back and mixed a more opaque hue and painted out on the deck- the cloth on the paper bags.  I will do that again. Paint outside in the Sun.  Outside.  Changes everything about the cloth, the paint and the colors.  Hard on these old eyes but if I limit the Time- will be worthy of the Effort.  And the brown paper grocery bags substructure- with paint- very interesting texture if I was doing paper collage.  I may pull the bags out of the recycling box and cut the most interesting sections.

We finally remembered to eat Rhubarb Pie.  And it was not the same as that first pie- I may have done something different.  The second pie was wetter.  But very good- just a different texture.  Could be that the rhubarb had additional time to ripen?  The additional crust was perfection.  I used the two crust recipe and that gave me more edge to crimp.  And perhaps that changed the moisture level as well.  Baking is like a lifelong science experiment. For me, at least.  I may try to make a Strawberry Pie.  I used to make those- just a baked crust and a sweet fruit filling. I think I used to buy some sort of thick strawberry flavored gel and just add berries.  I made it when we had company.  So not in last 30 years here in Maine.  Well, if my brother drives up this year- I'll make one.  He liked it.

Daily Notes- May 29th

                                         

French Lilac.  The deepest purple.  Planted in the Fenced Garden and forgotten. But not this year.  This year I have Time to Remember.   This year I walked down- while the second Rhubarb Pie was baking- to cut a few- three-- stems for the kitchen island.  The flowers are smaller than the ubiquitous lilacs we see more often and very fragrant.   My daughter says there is one next to an ocean cottage that is a very large TREE.  Perhaps I planted mine out in the garden so it could grow into a very large tree?

I looked at my small cloth of two inch squares on the wall behind the ironing board yesterday.  I gathered a few larger (but not by much) pieces of cloth to see "how it might go".  That is something my friend Grace says.  Most did "not go".  So I went looking.  I climbed the stairs into the Magic Attic.

I was way back in the corners by the walls of the Attic- I hardly ever go back there as the containers there do not hold anything of interest-Ha!!!  I opened one- from top to bottom - full of plain lovely cloth perfect for dye-works-old linen tablecloths etc.  I pulled it out and now have the container front and center.  Can't get lost. The Magic Attic suggests that I spend time with that cloth.

So, I came back down the stairs and took the cloth off the wall behind the ironing board.  To add to it until it is a large square.  Large enough square.  And work on that.  But first I need to find some pale yellow and seashore blue. Perhaps in the bag of rolled up linen shirts in the closet.  That square wants pale yellow and blue.  It's what I was considering when I started sewing squares together. Summer. Some of the blues already sewn into the cloth- are blues I hand painted.  So, I might do that as well. Paint. Cloth.  The softest watery sun shining blues I can mix.  Today. Tomorrow.  And possibly some of the sun paint in indigo spotted on top.  I need the palest of pinks- sunrise.