Sunday, June 18, 2017

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.




2 comments:

Annie said...

The reno is getting exciting as it moves along.
This is funny, every time the Music Theater add comes on tv, I think, I must ask Joanne if she's going to the Patsy Cline show, and there you are, mentioning it.

I used to go up to the shows years ago all the time, haven't been for a long time, would love to see this one.

Paula, the quilter said...

I think I may have to buy a large area rug for my kitchen. Since my foot surgery, it hurts to walk on the tile floor in my barefoot. I usually kick my shoes off the minute I walk in the door and the plate/screws in my foot and that hard tile are not a nice combo. *sigh* It's horrible getting old.