Garden Time, and a Story

I am almost finished planting flowers, and we still have a little bit of vegetable garden to get out, but the end is very near for this season of intense garden work.

It seems that every year I enjoy this time of year, and the gardens, even more than the year before. The use of mulch has dramatically reduced the hard work of weed control, and my little flamethrower has also made the task much easier.

This year we have had such an abundance of rain that the gardens for the most part are really happy and thriving. The only downside is that one end of my pretty veggie garden continues to get standing water no matter what we do to prevent it, so I've lost some onion and pea plants. But everything else looks pretty good. We've had to side-dress with fertilizer more than usual because of the huge rainstorms, but the cardboard-and-hay mulch has really helped control runoff.

Today there are storms all around us, and we may yet be driven indoors by another deluge, but for now, the day is just about perfect.

The cherry tree and raspberry canes are netted now to keep the birds out of ripening berries. I don't mind sharing but the birds don't play fair!

I am working on my storytelling presentation for this evening, but I am spending a lot of time doing my studying on the porch, coffee by my side. One story I am reviewing is about a man who committed a murder with two friends back in the mid-1800's. There was not enough evidence to charge them with the crime, but everyone knew these men did it. One of the men lived in the local community of the murdered man, and was shunned by the neighbors. He had to sell his cattle miles away because no one would do business with him in his locality. One night the murdered man's ghost hopped on to the murderer's horse behind him and no matter how fast the horse went, the cold, chill figure held on. This happened over and over until the accused murderer began to lose his mind. One day he wandered into a church service, walked to the front and sat down, where he began to mumble and pray out loud. The congregation and the preacher didn't know what to make of it. Then the man got up and walked outside, where he began pacing back and forth and praying loudly. The preacher called out, "There is no forgiveness without repentance, and there is no repentance without full confession!" The stricken man wandered off, and later people heard that he was very ill with fever and had called for a preacher. However, the other two men involved in the murder showed up and made everyone leave the sick man's room, saying they would care for him. Not even his wife was allowed in, and certainly not the preacher when he arrived. Within hours, the men came out and announced, "He's dead." Many in the community believed that the tortured man was helped to his end by those men, but no one could ever prove it. A strange tale, found in a local history book.

Yesterday I made cookies, so I am also enjoying a cookie with my coffee as I study--since I was out of chocolate chips, I made butterscotch chip-oatmeal-almond-nut cookies. They are quite delicious, as is this lovely day. I hope your day is a good one, my friends.

Copyright Susanna Holstein. All rights reserved. No Republication or Redistribution Allowed without attribution to Susanna Holstein.