Larry has been working on the mower--again--and weed-eating. He has figured out the problem. Did you know, these new riding mowers have plastic carburetors? And they need 93 octane non-ethanol gasoline or those carburetors will get all gunked up and then there's trouble, trouble, trouble. So new fuel filter, a few other parts, cleaned-out gas tank and new gas and it's finally running almost right. Geesh--and it's only a year old! Some time on Google and Youtube were a great help to finding the problem.
I've been piddling today: ebay listings in the morning, then baking brownies.
Finally I got outdoors in the afternoon and messed around pulling some weeds, harvesting some herbs,
picking flowers,
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| Sweet Rocket (I'm sure it has some other name, but that's what I call it) and lilies-of-the-valley. So fragrant a bouquet! |
and watching birds.
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| The bird-watching station. My chair is on the right in the photo, a gift from m youngest son and my hubby about 20+ years ago. His was a $10 auction find that just needed a little love. |
It's a great way to spend a day. I also went out the ridge to a patch of wild blackberries and picked leaves to dry for tea. They might be free, but I can tell you they exact their pound of flesh! Even the leaves have thorns, so it's a prickly job. And guess who forgot to take gloves with her?
Blackberry leaf tea is delicious; I like to mix the leaves with orange peel, rosehips and red clover blossoms. Now that's a great tea. I'm waiting on the red clover to bloom next.
Then back home to tidy the deck and just enjoy the rest of the day. Tomorrow more rain is in the forecast, and then temperatures will plummet to the point that even snow is possible on Saturday. I'll be monitoring the temperatures carefully and we may have to cover some plants if the weather develops as predicted. It has been many, many years since we've had frost or freeze in May.
I'll close today with this version of one of my favorite ballads, The Nightingale, also known as The Bold Grenadier, and also as One Morning in May. I know the Appalachian version; this first version is from someone's kitchen in Ireland (and near a place we visited in 2017) , and I just like it because there's the coffee and the cups on the table, makes me feel like I'm right there listening.
This second one is also from Ireland, by Liam Clancy.
And the last, I think is my favorite, but one of my favorite Irish singers, the late Al O'Donnell. This is a very short video, sadly.
Til tomorrow!
Copyright Susanna Holstein. All rights reserved. No Republication or Redistribution Allowed without attribution to Susanna Holstein.
I'm still drinking my catnip tea - about a quart every day. Good thing I harvested so much last Autumn, though I had no idea I would be using it myself instead of just giving it to cats! I also enjoy cold but sunny days, as I get a brief break from the black flies which have gotten their knives into me many times already this year. Do you know any herbal remedies to make bug bites stop itching? These are a torment for many days.
ReplyDeleteI remember my mother using baking soda and water, but can't remember if it was effective. I googled it though, and came up with this website that has a lot of good suggestions. I'm going to try a few myself as I've already been bit by those lousy no-see-ums. https://www.womenshealthmag.com/health/a19912493/bug-bite-relief/
ReplyDeleteWe have blackberries but never tried blackberry tea. I like your bird watching station, it's pretty cool. The last video is my favorite too.
ReplyDeleteHave a wonderful weekend.