June Heats Up--The Reno & the Garden News

Still distant...but closer and closer.  Sinks have drains and water comes out of the faucets I bought back in March.  First time out of the boxes.  New chair height toilet connected--flushes.  Not in use yet.  (laughing)  The fourth carpet ordered and arriving.  For the Hall.

I had to get a carpet.  Hated to cover any part of the tile flooring but with the uncarpeted stairs--going way up to the second floor (glorious) the ECHO in there was LOUD.  I am hoping the carpet sucks up some of the noise.  It's still rolled and wrapped.  The way the FedEx man delivered it.  Safer that way--because the final layer here......is paint.  Always a danger.  A mess. And then finally--- complete.

At work.  A long day but not as chilly as expected (and dressed for) so some un-layering of clothing.
Some sun.  Not much.  Enough.  Soup for lunch.  Very good with the extra carrots I add to it.  Panera's Cheesy Broccoli.  Two very large cups of tea.  A nice brownie would have been welcome.

Now that I know the end of June ....... is the beginning of a work free summer... I am eager for June to come to an end. Tuesday  G and I are going to the Music Theater for Patsy Cline.  Love her songs.  Reviews say the two woman show is wonderful.

Email from someone I worked for last summer (after leaving work).  She is off to visit her sister and I will be watering her tomatoes and other assorted plantings while she is gone.  An hour a day for 8 to 10 days.  It's on the way into Town--so no trouble at all.  And it gets me warmed up for watering my own garden (laughing).

Some of my seeds are germinating.  A few sunflowers.  Some arugula.  Collards?  Quite a few very tiny kale seedlings.  The celery plants I bought in a flat of 12 are doing good.  My new grape is doing good.  The two burpless cucumber plants are sending out tendrils--looking for something to grab hold of....ready to climb.  A friend gave the two to me in exchange for tomato seedlings.  I have a plan for the the last section of the herb garden.  Curves.

I repotted about 60 very tiny lavender seedlings.  Very tiny.  But already fragrant.  It will be fun watching them grow over the next year.  I also have some elderberry seedlings.  Some Boneset. Some Blue Salvia. Verbena Bonariensis (encourages visits of Monarchs) All very small.  Less than the size of a child's thimble.  This is the way it goes with perennial seeds.  Slow.

My Rumanian Tomato seedlings are doing well.  As are the Italian tomato seeds.  The pepper plants are growing--the ones from the flat I purchased at work and the ones from seeds that I started late.  At work, all the pepper seedlings are sold out.  There are no more.  I have yet to start my summer squash seeds.  Tomorrow I think.  Alongside more cucumbers.  Pickling ones.

I plan to mulch the vegetables with wet newspaper (to smother weeds) and top that with my composted leaves.  Chopped maple leaves about two or three years old. Did you know worms LOVE newspaper and wet cardboard?  Worms are the best garden helpers.  I am noticing more worms in the garden soil.  They have been in short supply up until now.  I've had more chipmunks than worms.

My potatoes are showing nice growth.  Excited about growing potatoes.  Overall, I am excited about this year's gardening adventures.  I made a lot of mistakes last summer so I hope I can learn from them and do better.  The garden does look neater.  And very empty.  But things happen fast---overnight sometimes.

Almost Summer

The Dog Days of August are still far away.  Today, here in Maine, we are having rain--drizzle rain--but rain..  I don't have to haul hose and water today.  A day off.  Good.

I found the second white duck slipcover.  In the Attic.  In with a pile of folded quilts.

The Electrician was here yesterday and things are lighting up in the bathroom.  And the master bedroom closets.  We also have the heated floor in the bathroom working.  Has a timer and a daily schedule of when to warm ups and when to cool down.  One more thing to learn how to program.

The Plumber is here today.  Attaching things to pipes and getting the water running in and out.  So, we'll see how the new walk in shower works (or doesn't) and the new sinks and toilet.  He has quite a bit to do.  The sinks alone look like quite a bit of work.  And we noticed the basement light shining upon thru the drain in front of the washer.  So, not attached to anything--down there.  I guess, if there had been a leak--it would have just drained straight into the basement????

Made a "straight up" Southern Peach Cobbler yesterday.  Used the full two cups of sugar.  The full stick of butter and regular milk in the batter.  I also followed the directions on my recipe card (circa 1970) to the letter.  I had been making it in a sort of  "relaxed" way for years.  Shortcuts.  I also used the full amount of peaches.  Six overflowing cups.  I think that was 8 or 9 peaches.  It's sweet. Next time only one cup of sugar.

Books from the library yesterday.  I went online looking for "recently released" and found a number of books by favorite authors.  Sigh.  Books.  Life is good.

I am off to transplant my tiny seedlings out of their milk jug "greenhouses" into a small cell planting tray.  Lots of tiny lavenders.  English and Provencal.  I have tape to stick on the edge of the cell tray so I can identify things--later as they get bigger.  It's nit-picky work but on a rainy day--a good time to get it done.

Love the puppy up top playing with the hose.

Summertime And The White Slipcovered Couch

There is something so seductive about a fresh white slipcover on the couches.  Makes summer--SUMMER.  And the ceiling fan slowly revolving overhead is pretty sweet, too.

Here in Maine we have had three sticking hot days in a row.  Today promises to be be cooler and nicer.  I have books from the library to read, a pitcher of cucumber, lemon, mint water in the fridge, Things to make into a crisp salad plus leaves to saute in a pan with onion and red pepper flakes. These are just a "few of my favorite things..."

The mosquitos are NOT.

And back to those slipcovers.  I have one.  I am supposed to have TWO.

The search is on..........

Balance Between Work And Not Working

Today.  I went to work and took care of two customers and then told my employer I was going home. 86 plus degrees outdoors and possibly over 100 inside the glass greenhouse.  Breathing alert. I was not doing well so called it a day after 36 minutes.

Also, employer asked if I was finishing the month and then taking July and August off again.  Not much oxygen getting to my brain.....but enough for me to and my head "yes".

Ordered library books for reading on the couch.  Until they get here I have strips of dyed and painted fabric to make into "something".......really don't care what.  It's the stitching by hand that calms and relaxes me.  Weaving the strips and then stitching them together.  It can be something to nothing.

Sold my little Z car.  Letting go is easier than I thought it would be.  Balance.  Takes practice but then it's almost effortless.

Not My Kitchen--But My Tile Floor

Yes, I trolled the internet and found my tile in a very nice photo.  This tile, laid just like it is here, in my bathrooms (well, only one of them so far) and in the entrance hallway.  I thought it was slate but it's actually ceramic.  From Italy.  I am very happy to have Italy under my feet.

I dislike the black cabinets with the tile floor in the photo--way too dark.  Perhaps it's a display kitchen as there are two different counter tops as well?

The tile guy suggested to G that we use a shower curtain in the hall/guest bath instead of a custom glass door.  It's what he would do.  I kind of like the idea.  We need the glass door in the big walk-in shower but not in the guest bath.  With the soaking tub.  So, we decided to "save money" which is laughable.  We aren't "saving money" on anything even as I try to do just that.

My 9 hour day at work today was way longer than I wanted it to be.  I was ready to go home at 2:30. Which was when I used my rescue inhaler.  My voice had gotten "thready" by then.  Three cubic bales of ProMix by 2:30.  That many large repots.  That much mixing of bone, dust dry peat (treated with wetting agent) with water.  Then scooping it into pots etc.  And all the walking to help customers out in the Perennial yard.  Walking, walking, walking.  Talking, talking, talking.  Mixing, mixing, mixing.  And then I was asked to water plants.

What the heck is wrong with me??????  But who would tell them how to get rid of ants? (Borax from grocery store) Brown tail caterpillars (Bt)  Mildew on pumpkin leaves (sour milk or whey and water in a spray bottle)  Cats in the garden beds (plastic forks--pointy sides up-- ouch!)  Start a new bed (cover grass and/or weeds with cardboard--soak in water and cover with mulch or soil).  Lilacs need pruning (remove 30% of oldest branches at ground level) when they stop flowering--not fertilizer.  Daylilies are good, sturdy plants for around the mailbox where the snow plow dumps 6 feet of snow in the Winter.

Now I am going to bed.

My Front Hallway Is Finished

Riley decided he had had enough of the door on it's side blocking his way into the hall then around the corner into the living room.  He'd been shut out long enough.  So he knocked the door down. We were supposed to wait for the caulking to dry a bit more. Riley didn't get the memo I guess.

Day One we walked on the plywood under flooring (not the word I want but spell check is deciding on the wrong words) and not on the tiles with adhesive under.  Day Two we leaped over the newly set tiles onto the ONE with blue tape and then a long step or jump into the hallway (where the bathroom and bedrooms are located).  Today we were all supposed to wait until late afternoon.  Riley didn't.  I think he has had enough of the construction--he wants to be able to sleep under our bed--like always.

My car--the 1998 BMW Z3 is going to live with a new person.  I haven't driven it in 9 or 10 years. Not since I brought home the little Honda Fit my dad purchased a month before he passed.  With black leather seats because he knew I liked leather seats. And he knew he wasn't going to be driving a car--anymore. It's the perfect car for me.  Easy on the knees.  The Beemer is tough on old knees.  Old hips.  Old people.  G said he wanted to drive it--but in the year since we brought it out of storage and had it tuned up (new battery etc) he has driven it twice--and that was the first week we had it.

A car like that needs to be driven, enjoyed and loved.  And I did all that for it's first 10 years.  Time to let go.

The news this week has put me over the "tipping point" as they say.  I think I am going to have to stop watching MSNBC for a while.  Till I calm down.  Even PBS is too much but I may watch the Friday Washington Report.  Then sign off.  I Am Not A Crook +  I Am Not A Liar.  Who protests too much?

Half The Entrance Hall Has Tile

We have a slim path on which to walk to the bathroom and bedroom.  We have a door (on it's side) to keep the dog away.  He will have to sleep on one of his three dog beds tonight.  And tomorrow night.

The sprinklers are running outside.  I guess we are getting grass on the newly "graded" slope.  The carpenter has a Bobcat.  He also removed some trees and relocated my compost heaps of leaves and grass clippings.  I wasn't aware of needing more grass.

The picture above is one of three that caught my eye for it's clean lines and simplicity.  Things my eye and heart like.  But the reality of my life is piles and clutter.  I have to find a way to move more toward  what my eyes and heart like.  It takes a lot of work to declutter.  Lots of "letting go" but I am ready.  Estate planning gets one ready for the ultimate "letting go".

Work--on Wednesday--was better.  Still that unidentifiable "something" that is not quite right during the day.  No one can identify it but we all feel it.  We added another new person.  She felt it.  But perhaps she was enough of a difference to change the vibe?

I was not as busy as on Monday but still lots of things going on--- I ordered and ordered for the containers that were dropped off for me.  "Take them down to the lady in the white shirt--she'll take care of you" was what I heard before seeing another customer headed toward me.  Yes, I wore a white tee with a company sticker pasted on it.  Dark green is way too hot.  Monday stripes.  Loved wearing stripes.  I am hoping the things I am trying to get from other locations actually arrive.  Fingers crossed.

Georgia Peaches

My local grocery chain is advertising Georgia Peaches and I MUST go buy them.  My six years living in Georgia (outside Atlanta) was formative in my cooking history.  Going from college to married in a few weeks.  Then going to Georgia where both my babies were born and raised for awhile.  Georgia Peach Cobbler.  Peach Pie.  Peach Smoothies--- well, not in Georgia.

The grocery peaches are not ready to eat.  I have figured out a method to ripen them.  The cover I put over microwave dishes.  Plastic with an adjustable vent to let out steamy air.  Works beautifully with peaches.  Tuck them under (tricky to buy just the right number of peaches to fit) and then let them gas each other on the kitchen counter until ripe enough for you to eat.  And when you eat them be sure the juices run down your chin and onto your white linen shirt.   Just saying...........

I planted things on Friday.  Arugula.  Kale.  Collards (Georgia roots yet again).  My window boxes with an assortment of throw away plants from work-- nothing precious.  I have nasturtiums, basil, and sunflowers to plant today before it starts to rain.

And I want to pot up some of my abundant supply of Lily of the Valley for my neighbor.  The neighbor with the old dog G takes care of when she is away.  Lily of the Valley reminds her of her mother.  It will be a nice welcome back home gift.

Long time customers at work yesterday.  Hugs.  Happy to see them and be seen by them.  This is my strongest tie to work.  These sweet long time customers.  We are all growing old together and would miss seeing each other.  Knowing we are still walking the surface of the planet is a comfort.

The little solar powered birdbath pump is doing a good job.  Makes a nice tower of water when the sun is bright, shorter when the sun isn't and then stops when a stray cloud passes over.  The area where it was intended to go--too shady.  Well, too many stray clouds passing by.  So it is outside the window by Riley's kitchen dog bed.  No birds.  But I hope some come for a drink and a shower someday soon.  G and I enjoy looking at it spraying and spinning around the bird bath.

So many things are in blossom right now.  The rhodies--especially the big white one.  Full of blossoms and scent.  Not heavy but sweet on the breezes.  The Beauty Bush has lots of blossoms still closed.  The lilacs still hold their flowers but they are getting tired looking.  Both are French and deeply violet blue and perfumed.  The azaleas are in flower.  Mostly pink.  I purchased two new ones--in white.  It gets shady and white is nice.  The crab apple trees are done flowering and showering the yard with white and pink petals--like rain.  Next up are the viburnum.  The front bed is full of Lily of the Valley.  Wo Peng my reluctant Tree Peony has more leaves and stems than ever before but no evidence it will make it's first flower in over 15 years in my garden.  I can still hope a flower will appear in my lifetime.

How does your garden grow?

Getting Past The Nonsense

The lack of sense.  It is all around us these days.  I have left several pages in my journal open so I can add things from the newspaper.  Make notes of things being said.  Laws trying to be passed-or not.  A history of non-sense.  What will become of this great country which is no longer "great"?

I am calmed by simple black and white.  Today the master bedroom closets are being made into custom closets with shelving and rods the way we want them.  They are lovely.  And the white closet doors now have their permanent black "dummy" knobs.  Perfect.

The temporary bedroom has fresh sheets.  Open windows for fresh breezes.  Clean clothes fresh from the dryer in the new master bath--dried with wool dryer balls.  So nice.

I planted my pieces of potato into the garden bed prepped from potatoes--a bit late but the soil has been too wet until now.  Riley guards me as I work. Pulled up the raspberry volunteers.  Everywhere.  I intend to fill the window boxes on the shed. And sprinkle seeds for arugula and kale into the garden.
My intentions are sometimes better than what actually happens.

G and I cleared all the weeds and leaves out of the blueberry bed yesterday.  Filled a very large wheelbarrow.  Weeds just know how to grow.  Blueberries are heavy with berry flowers.  I went to look at the grapes and my friend was right--tiny little baby grapes already there-  if you look closely.

Well, lunch is before me--roasted, chilled beets with olive oil and vinegar mixed with diced fresh mozzarella.  A good meal.  Let's see if I can NOT drop any on my shirt and stain the front with red beet juice which washes out to gray.  G is off site mowing grass--- before it starts raining again. And then-- planting beet seeds?

Wednesday--Used To Be My Favorite Day Of The Week

Another black and white room--the foyer of this house (not mine) The door is almost like the new closet doors--only a panel at the top--not glass.  Black hinges.  Black tile floor.  I may look for that light fixture on Houzz.com.  My new front door has more panes of glass--lets in more light.  Quite a change from the past 26 years of a dark, dark hall.

 So, Wednesday at work not being my favorite day of the week.

 Three--or is it 100?--weeks ago my schedule changed at work.  "Something" happened at work--On a Wednesday-- and my employer had to "bring in an influence" to correct things.  That might be me--or not.  Nothing much has changed. Or it has and THIS is better?

Things.  Were.  Awful.  Today.   (well, yesterday because it's after midnight)

It's hard to believe.  Monday was a great day.  Saturday was long but a good day.  Today---I just wanted it to end before I was tempted to dive into the path of the tractor..

What makes Wednesday an awful day?  The combination of people working (or more correctly-not working).  I heard so much complaining.  So much agony over events during the day (who moved my cheese sort of things).  So much "it's not my problem--you fix it".  We even locked a customer and her car into the parking lot at closing.  That's the royal "we"--  I didn't lock anyone into the parking lot.  My lips were locked in the "oh, no" position.

And the phone.  It would ring for like 20 to 30 rings and no one at the front would pick it up.  They just couldn't care less.  And it wasn't that they were "busy".  It was cold and overcast with rain threatening.......... they just could not be bothered to interrupt their conversations to answer the phone.

Customer Service at it's worst.  And the boss was in the building.

There is really nothing more to say.

But the new trim molding was up around the closets at home.  And the new wider baseboards--awesome.  And new black hinges in the doors (check out the picture above for the black hinges in that foyer-just that little line of black), and the black door knobs.  The little washer/dryer closet has a door and door knob--today and so does the bathroom itself.  For the first time since construction began.  Doors. And my closets are getting built in shelving.  Tomorrow the new vanity gets a "dry fitting".  OMG.  That is going to be something.  I will try and get a picture.  Still no usable plumbing.

I purchased a hallway runner on Houzz.com yesterday--it will arrive by the end of the week.  For Riley as he doesn't like walking on bare floors at age 10.  2.3 by 12 feet.  Hot pink and other vivid colors.  Tufted cotton.  In a zigzag pattern.  The bedroom rugs (4 by 8) are tufted cotton in circles in the same hot pink vivid colors.  One for each side of the bed.  They are already here.  In the closet--waiting.  So pretty.  So me.

Old Fashioned Kitchen Reminds Me Of Grandma

My grandmother's kitchen was so small.  She had to use the enamel topped kitchen table as her only countertop for food prep.  The stove sat against the far wall and butted up against the sink.  Then there was the fridge.  Not big like the ones we have now--small with a tiny lunch box sized freezer. But the food that came out of that kitchen was divine.

She made a soup out of garden fresh green beans that was delicious on so many levels.  I have never been able to duplicate it, but I remember it to this day---50 years since I last had a bowl (or two).

Her garden is the standard I work toward each year.

Here was a woman who was always "without".  Not enough money, love or caring.  But she kept going. Kept smiling. Kept being kind and loving.  And.  Big thing--she did the things that mattered to her--always.  Starched clean apron every single day.  Lovely permed hair.  Roses in every garden she created.  Fruit trees--always.  Vegetable garden, always.  And she canned and pickled  everything. there was no waste.  At season's end everything got ground up in a chow chow pickle kind of thing. Carrots, onions, turnips, cauliflower.  I loved that stuff.  I think of her while I slice yellow and green zucchini, peppers, onions and make pickles all summer long.

She never grew rhubarb.  But I think she would be thinking of so many ways to cook it, bake it and pickle it at this time of year.  G and I gathered a large, heavy armful this afternoon at my friend's house.  Pounds and pounds of it.  Big red stalks.  My friend has the BEST dirt!!!.  Now I need to go looking for new and interesting ways to use it all up.  Any ideas?  Mainers like rhubarb sauce the best.  Just cooked down with some sugar and piled on a hot fresh baked biscuit.

An Examined Life- Looking Back And Forward

I had a dream or vision the other night.  Falling asleep was difficult and I was tired. I don't know where this particular "thought" came from but it was visual and memorable.

I was on the ground (at work) looking up at myself floating higher and higher in a mist of sparkling gold dust.  I kept looking down at my body--my red frame eyeglasses.  And I kept saying "I thought I had more time".

If you have been reading this blog for any amount of time--you know I am continually putting off doing things I might actually enjoy doing.  I spend too much time doing things that others could do just as well.  I feel compelled to be working and earning.  I (we) have enough of nearly everything--but Time it would seem.  I may not have enough Time.  I need to "re-calculate".

At work, I have been "cleaning out my work clothes closet" and bringing in company tees and sweatshirts.  To give to other employees.  My employer gives everyone two tees per year (times 10 years equals 20 tees)  Some of us do not have access to home laundry equipment.  How very grateful the girls were to have two more, each.  Used but clean.

Perhaps this is where the "dream" came from.  Clearing out the work space.  Searching for more quality time.  Re- Calculating as the voice on the navigation system keeps saying.

Today two carpenters are here nailing in the new hardwood floor in my master bedroom.  It looks wonderful.  And--miracles happen---the master bathroom vanity has been delivered.  And it's the right height, the right size and the right color.  And nothing is broken, scratched or dented.  The floor matched up perfectly to the bathroom tile floor.  They are working from the headboard side of the room toward the double closets.  That's when work will slow down.  Flooring goes into the closets. I could have kept it carpet--but..... this is the only time I will have a house to my personal specs.

I went to Walmart today to buy Aveeno soap.  They had it so I got two bars.

Working At Home Today- Plus Vegetable Gardening Tips

Working seems to be my only activity.  How did that happen?

The front porch is starting to look like a miniature nursery operation.  Seedlings Inc.  So many things out there and all looking happy.  My dahlia tubers are coming up.  And the tuberous begonias are over a foot tall.  Tomato and peppers seedlings are getting taller by the day.  Some are still only a few inches tall--the ones I started from seeds in the milk jugs.

I would like to get the onions into the ground today.  And I really need to haul bags of compost from the storage area over into the garden area and dump them into beds if my raised beds ever hope to look like the ones in the top photo (and I might get G to go with me in the truck to buy a half yard of compost).  And I think the beds in the photo have some sort of watering device attached to the tops of the hoops.  Why did I never notice that before?????

I also bought seed potatoes and want to grow potatoes this summer.  I waited too long last year and missed out.  If you want to grow potatoes--NO cow manure in your soil profile.  NONE.  Chicken poo is what they want.

I had pruned my blueberry bushes (very hard) a few weeks or months ago and they responded with a heavy load of berry flowers.  Which is a "very good" thing.  I need to feed them with Holly Tone. I also need to put on a heavy canvas coat and go into the blackberry thicket and prune that really HARD.  I am reminded of the thorns ripping the skin on my ankles bloody last summer as I picked berries.

I top coated my rhubarb plants with a heavy coat of blue crystals of Miracle Grow and they responded with a massive growth spurt.  Rhubarb LOVES fertilizer.  Yes, I heavily sprinkle the tiny plants with crystals and then walk away.  Rain and night dew melts the stuff into the plants and they go nuts and grow big fat stems and leaves.  Now--they grow while we wait for the June strawberry season and the sale table along the road to my house.  Just a card table, umbrella and a few ladies.  It's what Maine is really all about.

I am hoping to get my beet seeds into the ground today.  I "stole" some shims from the stockpile in the construction zone--how can I actually be stealing something I paid for?-- and split them to make long thin plant markers.  I think it will make the garden look "sharp". And remind me of what I planted--where.

The Herb Bed is now empty except for two lavender plants and a bunch of sage plants (all the mint has been removed to the front bed under the crab tree as ground cover).  The thyme my friend gave me as a gift is dry.  Dry equals dead. I am not replacing it because--truth be told--I don't like the taste of thyme in my food.  Once I add some additional soils I can try and make a "design" in the bed.  Like divisions or squares.  For parsley, dill, calendula, violets, lavender, sage, marigolds (red ones), chives, and a herb I purchased--and have thriving--but have forgotten what it is exactly. (*winter savory)  It's something you add to spiced nuts.  Oh, and I am forgetting the tarragon and marjoram on the back steps.  Still in pots from overwintering.  And the rosemary and bay leaves in clay pots. I also need to plant some basil.  Six squares by two squares.

ACK!!!!! So much to do--so little actual time to do it.  But ONCE it's done--I can just water, weed and pick.  Just.............laughing is better than crying.

Friday's Shopping Adventure

South Street Linen.  They have a website.  All linen.  Very strong color and pattern (when there is a pattern) and the clothing has "style" which is never easy to find these days.  Everything looks like jogging wear.

Today I was determined to get some vegetable seeds into the ground.  Only carrots.  The beds need work and additions of more compost.  So---I wait to see how much rain will fall tomorrow.  And it will be getting cold again.  The heat and sun are going away for about 6 days.

I did manage to rip out more of the wildly unmanageable mint.  The more I remove the more that appears.  The stuff I planted under the crabapple tree is looking perky so the transplanting is working out okay.  I also planted annuals in my three large pedestal containers.  Pinks, reds and yellows.

I purchased another Concord grape plant and G will plant it in the garden next to the lone I purchased last summer.  Last year's plant made 6 very tasty grapes.  Let's hope it is more generous this year????

Back to work tomorrow.  I really NEED two days in a row off after a hectic 9 hour day on Saturdays.
One day is just not enough time to shake it off.

We drove all the way out to the last work site (second job) and where I thought I had left my work tools.  They weren't there.  And on the way home we stopped to buy on sale $4.48 a pound bone in ribeye steaks and sweet corn (5 for one dollar).  Delicious dinner.  I haven't eaten that much meat since the Atkins days.  It was very, very good.  We might do it again tomorrow.

French Greenhouse To Buy when I Win The Lottery

What's neat about this greenhouse is the wall of rocks.  To hold the sun's heat and reflect it into the room's volume all night or on long cold days.  My "greenhouse" right now is a shelf with lights for small tomato seedlings and a huge tray of Red Morpheous Marigolds I grew from seeds in one of the milk jugs.  And on that subject, all but 3 out of the 25 jugs germinated.  Big success. Everything else is in tidy rows on the north facing front porch.  Flats have been divided and repotted into bigger 4 inch pots.  Sunday I may finally have a day at home to start planting things.

Today at Whole Foods I bought 4 pounds of big fat carrots from California.  And 5 gigantic red beets to roast in the oven and eat ice cold with vinegar and oil.  Plus a small bag of French shallots to plant in my garden.  To grow into bunches of shallots.  I plan to roast a big cast iron pan of carrots in the oven with butter.  Mark Bittman recipe.  Lunches this week have been cold rice with peas and big salads with lots of sliced carrots.

Today G and I had lunch in a fine restaurant down in Portland.  While we ate and chatted, I watched almost all the others using their phones.  No talking.  What has happened to people???  When is a phone message more relevant than the person(s) sitting with you at the table?

G had Rare Seared Tuna with a salad of red bliss potatoes, French green beans, radish slices and fresh made mayo with grated hard boiled egg yolk.  I had panko chicken gyro with Greek yogurt sauce (needed more cucumber) the bread was too well crisped (difficult to bite and chew) and the homemade potato chips missed the mark. But the majority of the food was fresh and good tasting.

We had an appointment with our Trust Attorney.  He had to run off copies so we took a walk over to South Street Linen (owned by three artists who paint) and I tried on clothing I have been admiring online for years.  Then back to the law office and then over to Walter's for lunch.  Then to Trader Joe's for cans of marinara and then Whole Foods for veggies.   I asked for Aveeno soap and the clerk at Whole Foods said "Walmart....you do know how to get there don't you?"  In such a sneering voice.  I actually wished I had had my phone so I could record her and report her to the manager.  Why on Earth would a person be like that???

The regular Joe at Rite Aid walked all over the store to try and find my soap.  Polite and not the least bit of attitude.  Guess where I'll go next time I need soap?

Work tomorrow and I have a load of laundry to do.  We've had a week of heat, too much sun plus humidity.  Work was awful (for me) on Thursday--80 plus and still.  I thought I had heat stroke for awhile there.  A cooling breeze is blowing through the house right now--moving all the drywall dust and paint fumes around.  No workers for the next two days.

All of my crab apple trees are in complete flower.  Very, very pretty. Things are sending up shoots in the flower beds and I seem to be having a very good Lily of the Valley year.  Wo Peng my Tree Peony is standing taller than he has in the 10 or more years he has lived here with me.  Perhaps he'll make his first flower this year?  Wouldn't that be amazing?

So, get out there and dig in the dirt.  Okay?

Gardening

For pay.  I helped out a landscaper friend with mulch the past two days.  Very big and beautiful house on the water.  Wow.  It was like my very own dream come true being there.  Lots of stone steps, curved beds, boat dock-- not my dream but I like looking at them-- and such lovely surroundings.  We had lunch on the boat dock on day one and on rocks around the fire pit on day two.  I took a breather at one point and sat on on stone stairway watching the birds visit the feeder and just enjoying May in Maine--glancing down at the columbine growing so bountifully on the hillside.

We often are too busy to be still and just absorb the "good" in simple things.  Blue sky, clouds drifting across the sky, birds chirping, green grass growing.  The sun was shining.  No rain.  The black flies were biting but, hey, it's May.

I even had a nice treat after work--a peach ice cream cone.

Tomorrow the regular job.

The Painter and his helper have been here all week.  The doors were going to be sprayed but he decided to hand paint them here in the house.  Most of the windows are finished.  Ceilings next I think and then the walls.  No other subs have visited.

G ordered door knobs on Sunday and they arrived on Tuesday before noon.  Delightful service and prices from Build.com.  $5 less per knob than the Loew's price.  Same product. Free shipping.  The boxes of hardwood flooring are here.  Getting climate adjusted.  Two weeks to match the climate in the house (so doesn't shrink or warp).  Then hardwood floors in the master.  Then closet and baseboards.  Then paint and hopefully a working bathroom.  What do you think? By June or mid June???  Not that it's a hardship to be using the 2nd bedroom.  It's really very comfortable in there.

We still have to order the hallway doors.  I am hoping the General Contractor ordered them!

Not The Black Door--The Two Side Containers

I can still have the door painted black.  And I might do it.  Just the outside of the door.  Not the sidelights.  Not inside. But I DO LOVE the look of those little square boxes.  My porch is the width of the house and deep so there wouldn't be any "good light" for the little boxwoods.  I was thinking of cedars in a tall cone shape.  Still no light.

The Day Before Mother's Day.  9.5 hours at work.  Walking, walking and more walking.  Repots all day long.  From the way back of the greenhouse, up the ramp into the garden center part of the store to the cash registers and then back to the potting bench to do the work and then back to give the work to the customer and then back to the potting bench.  Over and Over and Over.

My Mother's Day Reward was a large Dairy Queen hot fudge sundae.  Loved every spoonful.

I piled a large stack of items on the hall stairway to the second floor.  For tomorrow--to carry upstairs and out of the way.  Our warm Winter clothing.  More coats and jackets.  Two ironing boards.  A pile of fabric, tablecloths etc.  I found a white linen king fitted sheet with a rip I had been intending to mend for probably longer than 5 years.  I am going to mend it with Jude's Invisible Tacking Stitch. I may start tomorrow. I enjoy the stitching process.  It's not a stitch I have ever used before but I really like the way it can bind/meld layers of fabric. I made a few little four patches by hand and then tacked the 1/4 inch flat and open.  Loved running my fingers over the seams and stitches.  This tactile "feeling" is what I miss most about quilting.  running my hands and finger tips over the seams and patches.  The placement of the ripped/mended section will fit nicely under the pillows. It ripped when it was under my feet.  A thin area in the weave.  Probably why it was a "second".

I am in "one of those moods"--possibly because I am taking so much Prednisone or it could be fatigue.  Wondering if I have enough time to "wear out" the clothing I own--wondering if it makes sense to buy any more clothing--I would like a dress and more flannel pajama pants.  Wondering if I will outlive my 2008 Fit with 33,000 miles on it.  I highly doubt it (laughing).  I don't think I have 10 more years of driving in me. Never have enjoyed driving.  But I could still be driving into my 90's.  Odder things have happened and I got a VERY LATE START---getting my license at THIRTY.

G planted my Mother's Day Peach trees today. They look very nice.  We went crazy and planted them in the front yard.  Best light, soil and I can see them all the time.

The rhubarb pie needed an extra 40 minutes to bake.  The rhubarb was still crispy after an hour.  I made the best pie crust.  Butter and flour and water.  Lovely texture and after a chill in the fridge it rolled out so smooth.  I need to make more crusts.  More pies.  Lovely.

The Glass Guys Installed The Shower Door & Herb Garden Plans

Finally.  The glass doors.  One is stationary on top of the cutaway that has the shower knobs etc in the tiled short wall and the little bench for shaving your legs  (really, the tile guy said that).  The short wall with the knobs is so you can turn on the water and not get wet doing it.

 And then there is the door. five feet at least but maybe six.  With chrome edges and really wonderful square hardware things that attach the door to the wall. And a handle. Looks REALLY expensive.

The Carpenter Guys did say it was the most expensive of the five bath remodels they are doing.

I think I will be taking a chair in there and just sitting and looking at it all.  Saying "this is mine--really mine".  So pleased and so happy.  And I will be thinking of the tile guy.  And saying thank you.

Next up is the Painting Guy and his Helper.  Monday morning at 8am.

Then, hopefully, the Plumber and the hook up of the shower and all the wonderful things in the hall closet from Kohler.  Shower head, hand shower, hand shower holder, lever knobs.

And someday the vanity I designed (hey, it's all custom here -and all solid wood).  The granite top and the square sinks undermounted for super easy cleaning and the single lever faucets. Only the one for each sink.  Just a chrome column with a lever on top.

G forgot to ask the glass guy if the huge mirror that was once in the master bath could be sliced into three pieces and used above the vanities in the two new bathrooms.  Sort of like walls.  Of mirror.
From the sink top to the top of the tower of drawers in the center of the vanity.  Hope he can cut it.
Its 72 inches wide and five feet more or less tall.  Covered the entire wall behind my sinks almost to the ceiling.  My old sinks.

After 26 plus years--I got used to the big mirror.   Lots and lots of reflected light.  Amazing light.

But only if he can cut it.  Otherwise I think might be too expensive to buy new.

Well, I'm getting tired.  Garden work tomorrow.  Digging out all the resident herbs, adding soil, then putting everything back in along with new tarragon, new marjoram, new dill, new parsley, new calendula.  The old thyme is doing great as are the two lavender plants.  I moved the mint to the front yard under the old crab tree.  As a minty fresh ground cover.  I yanked the pot of mint roots out of the bed and if it's sprouting--that will also be relocated to the front bed.  The buried pot of chives stays. Keeps it from getting too big.

I am thinking of getting my French Potager book with drawings of French herb gardens to see if there is a simple layout that would look good in my little garden. Perhaps a woven line?  Attached squares on point?  I could also go and buy some tiny boxwood to edge it all. I think Lowes had some a few weeks ago--but it might be all gone by now.  They go through things pretty quickly.

Something to be thinking about as I drift off to sleep tonight.

Contact Dermatitis

Yep.  Not a Food Allergy.  Just stuff getting on my hands and making "contact" with my face.

Got a LONG list of products I can use.  I asked about my super innocent goat's milk fragrance free face soap.  No.  Not on the LIST.

Lucky for me--g goes to the same dermatologist and got the LIST many years ago (it seems) and then went out and bought all the stuff and never used it.  So I have Aveeno soap, moisture cream and super 24 hour cream plus the shower body wash.  I bought little take with tubes of some thing on the LIST to take to work with me.  Wash my face every few hours to get dust and dirty off myself.  Not Aveeno.

I also have 64 Prednisone10 pills to take.  A bunch of them four times a day for 4 days.  Then a smaller bunch for another 4 days.  Then a small bunch for the next 4 days etc until I take one a day until they are gone.  You do the math.  I can't think straight.  With milk.  The pills are taken with milk--not math. And the doctor recommends I take them all early in the day  or I won't be able to sleep.  Great.

So far today, pills, milk and washed my face three times.  I was gardening.  Nothing itching and this new stuff doesn't burn when I rub it on my skin.  PAT it on my skin.

Riley is taking Amoxicillin.  Four times a day.  He has something Labs get.  To do with the muscles in their throat and breathing.  His "panic attack" yesterday was because the muscles weren't flexing and he was having trouble breathing.  It's like they get stuck in closed and can't transition to open. Which must be SUPER stressful.  In fact, most of Riley's gakking, choking and gagging in the past months has been due to the throat thing.  And we were doing nothing.  So now we know.  And now he has pills.  He was super relaxed today and took several long naps.

He is also taking big blue pills for his liver.  Which is shrinking.  Expensive pills.  But who cares--he's worth every dollar.

So that's it.  The prednisone has given me acid reflux (didn't drink enough milk with pills), a low grade headache, and a cough (it affects some asthmas- which is funny because my doctor gave it to me when I had my cough--I didn't fill the prescription).   And now I am going to bed. I'm sleepy.

Washer and Dryer Hooked Up

Yes, indeed.  One.  Thing.  Done.

Now I can wash and dry clothes etc.  And since it is that time of year of digging, clearing and mowing--we get dirty.

It took some logistics to get the 32 year old stacked washer and dryer back in the small "room" that was created for the "Washing of Clothes" and a trip to the store for a new drain hose that is longer (and less brittle).  A test load of water to see if anything leaked and the Carpenters left to tear off a roof somewhere down the road while the sun shined.  (but now it looks like rain)

I think the Carpenters felt I could WAIT on all the rest if I was able to do laundry here at home.

Someday........who's counting days?  The plumber will return and hook everything up and we can take a shower in the new walk in shower but the glass man has to come with the custom doors first.  And where are the new radiators?

The vanity is on indefinite "not ready now" so that won't be coming anytime soon.  They said two weeks and it's now into the 7th or 8th week.  My guess is that no one will come to hook up anything until the vanity shows up.  And since there is nothing else ready to work on---we will just get used to  (more comfortable with) plastic taped to doorways.

Because as soon as bathroom number one is finished they will demo bathroom number two.  And how long until THAT vanity arrives?

I am going to see the Dermatologist this afternoon for my follow up visit.  And my rash is back so he can actually SEE it.  Has anyone ever been this happy to have a rash return?  See.....I didn't just "imagine" I had a rash.  G has said I should stop applying medicine and let the rash get really red and irritated before the visit.  Yeah.  Sounds good but the rash itches, the skin burns and makes me crazy.
So I apply Benadryl cream.  Makes it stop itching but doesn't make it go away.